Regrets and Goodbyes
by To'M'L Kuran
Summary: Uchiha Kaede has always struggled. She's struggled to gain her father's approval, to gain Obito's love, to get over Obito's death, and now she must struggle to survive. Follow Kaede from the 3rd Great Ninja War, to the Uchiha Massacre, the rise of the Akatsuki, and the 4th Great Ninja War. OC X Obito
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my newest story: Regrets and Goodbyes. It's a rather solemn of Uchiha Kaede as grows from a chunin in the 3rd Great Ninja War to one of Konoha's most elite ninja. Follow Kaede as she struggles with her love for her comrade, his inability to return her feelings, and the surprising ways he shows up in her life. OC X Obito/Tobi**

It was early afternoon. My mother was watching over my younger brother and his friend as they played. I smiled as I stood in the doorway watching over them.

My brother looked up at me and smiled.

"Kaede-nee! Will you play with me and Shisui?"

"Sorry, Itachi. I can't today. I'm going on an important mission."

"You're going to protect the village, right Kaede!"

"That's right, Shisui. I'm a strong Kunoichi. I'll protect the village with everything I've got. But while I'm gone, I need you two to look after the clan for me. Oka-san in pregnant, and I need you to look after her while Tou-san and I are out on missions. Promise me you'll look after her, won't you Itachi?"

"I promise, Nee-chan. Just come home safe, ok?"

I smiled at my four-year-old brother and his friend. "I promise."

"Itachi, don't bug your sister. She has to go now."

"Sorry Oka-san."

"Now run along and play with Shisui."

I hugged my brother and his friend. "Look after each other while I'm gone." Like every time before I left on a dangerous mission, I shed a silent tear, knowing this could be the last time I saw my dear little brother.

"Come home safe dear," my mother said as I hugged her.

"I'll do my best. Don't push yourself too hard, Oka-san. It's not good for the baby."

"Listen to you lecturing me like this is my first pregnancy."

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Be safe!"

I ran to the village gate, my long dark hair flowing behind me as I hurried. Like always, I'd spend too much time saying goodbye.

When I got the the gate, the team I'd be working with was waiting for me.

"Sorry I'm late," I said.

"Even Obito was here before you, Kaede," Kakashi said.

Obito and I made faces at the silver haired chunin.

"I was saying goodbye to my family. This is a dangerous mission. I don't know if I'm coming back. I refuse to die without giving my family a proper goodbye."

"Sorry if Obito and I don't have the same concerns."

I saw Obito flinch at Kakashi's cold remark, and I looked at the ground. Both of them were orphans, without families.

"Come on now," Minato-sensei said. "Be nice, Kakashi. Kaede was kind enough to volunteer to fill in for Rin while she's injured. Please make her feel welcomed on our team. She's an excellent medic. Now let's move out!"

"Hai Minato-sensei!" we all exclaimed.

This was an infiltrate and rescue mission, very dangerous for three chunin to take on, even when lead by a jonin. The daughter of the Land of Fire Daimyo had been kidnapped by shinobi from the Land of Earth. Our mission was to get her back.

"It will take us a few days to reach the place where they are keeping the Daimyo's daughter captive. Once we get there, here's the plan. Kaede, you will use your genjutsu to knock out the guards. Kakashi, Obito and I will take out any one else we come across. Once we find the girl, I will transport us back to Konoha with my space-time ninjutsu."

We all listened carefully to Minato-sensei's plan. It was extremely important that we pay attention; no doing so could mean certain death for not only one's self, but for the rest of the team as well.

 **That's all I have for you for this first chapter. I've started a new thing that another author, Yuri Tora, uses. It's a point system for reviews. Review for 3 points. Guess the answer to the question for 5. This weeks question is:**

 **"What do you think will happen on the mission?"**

 **It's generic, but a good starter question, I think. I already know what's going to happen, but I'd like to hear your thoughts and I might use them for missions down the road.**

 **I'll post the next chapter next week on Wednesday**

 **-To'M'L**


	2. Chapter 2

**thanks for the follows :)**

We traveled until sunset before we made camp. I was taking the first watch. About an hour into my watch, I looked down from the tree I was sitting in to the sleeping forms of my comrades. My eyes fell on Obito. He was spread out in an awkward position with drool dripping down his cheek. I couldn't help but chuckle. Obito was a strange boy, but I was completely in love with him. He wasn't afraid to be himself, even though he was far from the star of our clan. I'd known him my whole life, and he'd always been a good friend. But about a year ago, I suddenly started to notice things about him that I didn't before. Before long, i had developed a crush on him. Then that crush turned into love. And he had no idea.

"You keep staring at him and he might wake up and notice."

I almost fell out of the tree when I hear Kakashi's words.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people."

"And you shouldn't be making gaga eyes at Obito when you're on watch. I don't get what you see in him. He's a loser."

"Don't say that about him! There are more important things then being number one at everything. He's a fierce friend, loyal, kind, and he's true to himself."

"You know he'll never look at you the same way you look at him."

His words stung. "I know. He'll never look at me the way he looks at Rin. I know that. And I've accepted that. If I can just be near him, by his side, as a friend, I'll be happy. It'd funny, huh, I love him, he loves Rin, Rin loves you, and you…well you don't love anybody do you."

"No. I don't have time for love."

"We're in a war, Kakashi. Our friends and comrades die everyday. One day, you'll wake up and realize everyone you cared about is gone and you didn't spend enough time with them, letting them know how much you care. That's why I'm always late to things. I won't be on my death bed regretting not telling my loved ones how much I love them."

"Then why don't you tell Obito."

"Because I'll lose him. I'd rather be his friend than be nothing to him. Loving him and not being loved is return is better than him not wanting to be around me at all."

"You sure are strange, Kaede. Get some sleep. I'll take the next watch."

"Thanks. Hey, Kakashi?"

"Yeah?"

"Think about what I said, OK? Even if you don't love Rin back, there's someone out there you will love. Even though we're not the best of friends by any means, I'd hate to see you waste the time you could be spending with someone you care about on stupid stuff that doesn't matter."

 **Do you think Kakashi will date anyone in this story? Who is it?**


	3. Chapter 3

Two days later, we'd made it to the Land of Earth, to the place where they were hiding the Daimyo's daughter.

"You're up, Kaede," Minato-sensei whispered.

"Hai."

"Kaede," Obito whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I blushed. "Yes?"

"Good luck."

I smiled.

I approached the guards.

"Hey you! Girl! Identify yourself!"

I activated my sharingan and used a visual genjutsu on them to knock them out.

"Good job, Kaede," Minato-sensei said as he and the boys jumped out of hiding. "Let's go. I'll take the front. Obito, you follow. Kaede, take the center. Kakashi, you've got the rear."

"Hai!"

We charged in. Kakashi, Obito, and Minato-sensei took out everyone we came across. Finally, we came to the chamber where they were keeping the girl. When we got there, a Iwanin was holding a kunai to the girl's throat.

"Not another step there, Yellow Flash. I must admit, I'm impressed by your little team. Let's do a head count, shall we, and see who's all here. There's you, Konoha's infamous Yellow Flash. There's the son of the White Fang. And two Uchiha brats, including the Heiress to the clan. The Land of Fire's Daimyo must really want his daughter back."

"Of course he does!" Obito shouted. "What kind of father wouldn't want his daughter back? How would you feel if your daughter was stolen from you?!"

"You see, boy, I already know how that feels. Because my daughter was stolen, by you Konoha pigs! You stole her life. In fact, it was Uchiha Fugaku that took her life. She was just a child, no older than you three children are now."

I gulped. Had my father really killed a 12 year old girl?

"And now, the Kami have given me a chance for true revenge. What better way to repay the man who stole my daughter's life then to steal his only daughter. You want the Daimyo's daughter back, Uchiha, then offer your own life in exchange for hers."

I was shaking. Never before had I been in this position.

"We're not letting you take Kaede!" Obito shouted, standing in front of me. "She's our comrade! I won't abandon a comrade!"

"It's her life or the Daimyo's daughter!"

"Obito," I said sadly. "Thank you for trying to protect me. You're a true friend. But this is my decision to make. I will sacrifice my life for the Daimyo's daughter."

"But Kaede!"

"Let her go, Obito," Minato-sensei said. "This is Kaede's decision to make, no one can make it for her." He placed a hand on my back, causing me to smile. "I'm proud of you, Kaede."

I went to the Iwanin and he threw the girl to Minato-sensei, who caught her. The poor girl was thankfully under a genjutsu and wouldn't remember any of this.

"You have the girl, now leave before I change my mind and kill you all."

Minato-sensei placed his hands on Kakashi and Obito before disappearing with his space-time ninjutsu.

The Iwanin brought me to a cell and threw me in roughly.

"You will be executed at sunrise tomorrow, in front of all Iwakagure. We will take your eyes then kill you. Iwa will finally have the sharingan in our grasp."

I made a face at the sick bastard as he walked away, leaving me in the dark cell.

An hour later, I felt a presence behind me.

"It's about time you got here, Minato-sensei. I was beginning to think you forgot to come back for me."

He chuckled. "Let's get you home. Your mother is worried sick about you."

He teleported us back home to Konoha where my family, Kakashi, and Obito were waiting for us. My mother pulled me into a tight hug.

"You had me so worried. What you did was brave, but foolish. If Minato hadn't realized what you were doing and put his mark on you….oh Kaede! We could have lost you!"

"Sorry I worried you, Oka-san, but the Daimyo's daughter needed to be saved."

"You didn't think to tell us what you were planning?!" Obito said, wiping his eyes.

"Don't cry, Obito," I said. "I'm ok. There wasn't time to tell you."

"I'm not crying! There's just dust in my eye!"

I chuckled.

"Is the Daimyo's daughter alright?"

"She's fine," Kakashi said. "Her father's with her in the hospital right now. The genjutsu is off, she doesn't remember a thing."

"Thank goodness."

I passed out from exhaustion.

 **Seriously, what do you guys think?**


	4. Chapter 4

When I woke, my sweet little brother was by my side.

"Hey, Otouto," I said sleepily.

"Nee-chan! You're awake! I was really worried about you!"

I chuckled softly. "Look at you worry about your Aneki. You're such a good boy, Itachi."

"Itachi," a new voice in the room said. I looked up from my brother's face to see my father standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "I need to speak to your sister alone."

Itachi glanced at me nervously.

"It's alright, Itachi, Otou-san just wants to talk like adults. Little children like you shouldn't be involved in such conversations."

"Alright," he said sadly.

He dragged his feet out of the door.

Otou-san closed the door behind him.

"Kaede, you disgrace this clan."

I sighed. I'd heard this before.

"I know father."

"You're worse than that Obitio boy you fuss over."

I glared at him for that one.

"There's nothing wrong with Obito!"

"13 years old…no sharingan…always late…no real talent. And my own daughter thinks of him like he's the prodigy of Konoha. I'd rather you marry outside the clan then love that boy."

"Leave Obito and my feelings for him out of this conversation, Otou-san, and continue your scolding for getting captured by those Iwanin. I know this is what this is about, so don't linger on Obito like you're doing."

"Mind your tongue, young lady."

"Yes Otou-san."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What am I going to do with you? You are my first born, but you were born a girl, something that, while you cannot help it, prevents you from leading this clan until you are married. That I can deal with. You can still bring this clan honor. But you make mistakes at every turn. You're always late. You always make mistakes on your missions. You're reckless. It's like you're not even an Uchiha."

"I am an Uchiha!" I shouted, my three tomoe Sharingan swirling angrily.

"I know that. I do not question your lineage, only your ability to act like a member of this clan."

I scoffed.

" 'The clan' this, 'the clan' that. That's all you ever talk about. I saved a the life of an innocent girl and all you can talk about is the damn clan! There are more important things than this damned clan!"

 _ **smack**_

My father's hand left a red print across my face. My father had never struck me before. But I knew this would not be the last time.

"You will not speak in such a way again. Is that understood, Kaede?"

I refused to look at him, let alone answer him.

"I said, 'Is that understood, Kaede'."

My sharingan detected chakra just outside of the door. Itachi had seen everything. I could see his fear rising.

"Kaede!"

"I…understand…Otou-san…" I said coldly.


	5. Chapter 5

Rin was out of the hospital now. She'd called us all to a meeting. All of the kids we graduated with were here.

"What's going on?" I asked Obito, who was looking extremely depressed.

"I...don't know..."

"Hey, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing..."

I noticed the flowers on the ground.

"You were going to confess to her, weren't you..."

"Shhhh! Don't say it so loud!"

"Mina! I have exciting news!" Rin called out to us all. "Kakashi is going to be a jonin! So I want to through a party for him!"

I couldn't help but glare at Rin. She was always doing stuff like this for Kakashi while Obito was pining after her. How could she not see what he felt for her?!

* * *

Later, we were all at Rin's house. A banner that read "Congratulations, Kakashi!" hung across the wall. Kakashi was, as always, acting too cool to care. Obito was sulking in a corner because Rin was fussing over Kakashi.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked Obito as I offered him a cup of punch.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied as he took the cup, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes so I knew he was lying.

"You don't have to hide your feelings from me, Obito. We've been friends since we were little kids. You were there for me when I lost Hikaru, Akito, and Tomoyo-sensei. Let me be there for you."

He sighed. "I just...I wish Rin would look at me the way she does at Kakashi."

"I know. I feel the same way about someone else."

"What?"

"Yeah. The boy I love...he likes someone else...a whole lot. He'd do anything for her."

"Really? Who is it?"

I turned away. "I can't tell you. It's a secret!"

"Come on! You can trust me! It's Kakashi isn't it!"

I laughed. "That's ridiculous! Besides, Kakashi doesn't love anyone but himself."

"Yeah, I guess that's true. I can tell he really respects you though. Hey, what happened to your cheek by the way?"

I put my hand over the faded bruise from where my father struck me.

"Oh, i-it's nothing. D-don't worry about it."

"You're stammering...You never stammer. Did...Did someone hit you?!"

"Shhh!"

"Kami! Kaede, who hit you?"

"It doesn't matter. I deserved it."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind, Obito!"

I ran from the party, my eyes threatening to flood. I found a spot to hide on top of the Hokage monument.

"Oi!"

I looked up.

"Kakashi? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the party?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Yeah...well...I needed some air..."

"Sure you did."

He sat beside me.

"You know, that loser is looking everywhere for you. We're going on an important mission tomorrow and he wants to make sure things between you two are ok before we leave."

I smiled. "And I suppose you just came up here to tell me out of the goodness of your heart?"

"I was just annoyed with his shouting."

"hm...thanks, Kakashi. You know, you're a cold-ass sometimes, but you're a good friend."

"Yeah, whatever."

I went back down the mountain to find Obito.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" He lifted his goggles and wiped his eye.

"Yeah, Kakashi told me. Hey, listen: I'm not ready to talk about what happened or who it is I like, but I'll tell you when you get back from your mission, ok?"

He smiled. "Deal! I'll hold you to it!"

* * *

 **Sorry, it's been so long! My computer was getting repaired and this "filler" chapter was hard to write.**


	6. Chapter 6

I paced back and forth near the gates to the village. I couldn't wait for Obito to get back, but at the same time I was nervous as Hell. I'd promised to tell him who it was I liked, and that meant confessing my love for him. I'd never been nervous around Obito before, but now all of a sudden my heart was racing and my palms were sweaty.

"Kaede-nee, what are you so nervous about?" Itachi said. He'd come with me to welcome back Obito and the others.

I looked down at the four, almost five, year old. "Hey, hey, it's natural for a girl to be nervous when she confesses her love to someone. Especially when that someone is in love with someone else."

"If Obito likes someone else, why do you still love him, Nee-chan?"

I smiled and chuckled slightly. "It's not that simple, Otouto. You can't just simply stop loving someone.

I looked up and saw a man with bright blond hair in the distance.

"Minato-sensei! Mina! Welcome back!" I cried as I ran as fast as I could up to them, Itachi on my tail. I came to a sudden stop when I saw the rough shape everyone was in. Rin looked distraught and roughed up. Minato-Sensei looked heart broken. Kakashi, one of the youngest to become a jonin ever in our village, was the worst off. He was badly hurt with a bandage over his eye. But someone was missing. "Where's Obito?"

"I'm very sorry to tell you this, Kaede," Minato-sensei said. "But Obito didn't make it."

"What? That's not funny, Sensei! When did you get such a rotten sense of humor?!"

"I'm telling the truth, Kaede. Obito has been killed in action."

"What? How?!"

"You see, Kaede," Rin started. "I got captured by Iwa-nin. They put me under a genjutsu to try to get me to talk. Kakashi and Obito came to rescue me. Sensei would have come too, but he was else where on a different part of the mission. Kakashi's eye got hurt before they came to get me. When we were making our escape, the Iwa-nins tried to blow up the cave they had hidden me in. A rock came from Kakashi's blind spot and knocked him down. Obito came back to get him and pulled him out of the way, but he was crushed by the rocks. We couldn't even get his body out to bring him home."

I glared at Kakashi.

"This is your fault, Hatake!"

"Kaede..." Minato-sensei started.

"If you hadn't been so stupid and lost your damn eye, he would've come home! It's your fault!"

Kakashi, who normally looked rather unemotional, actually looked saddened by my words. He looked...guilty.

Now I was feeling guilty for yelling at him, but I didn't want to feel that way. I didn't want to feel anything right now. My emotions were raging inside. I felt hurt, anger, pain, betrayal, sorrow...guilt! It was too much!

So I ran.

"Nee-chan!"

"Kaede!"

I ignored the cries of my brother and Minato-sensei. I ran through the village until I reached my home.

"Oh, you're home, Kaede," my mother exclaimed. "Where's your brother? Wait, Kaede! Where are you going so fast?"

I ignored my mother too. I ran to my room and threw myself on my bed and cried my eyes out.

 _Obito...why did you have to die...why didn't I tell you how i feel...why..._

* * *

It was a few hours after I'd been home. I'd heard voices outside of my door all night, but no one had come in yet.

 _If they're going to stand out there and talk, why don't they just come in already?_

As if on cue, my father came in. He sat at the foot of my bed.

"Kaede...I know I criticized Obito and your affections for him many times...but I am sorry for your loss. I shouldn't have struck you the other day. That was wrong of me. If you want to talk, your mother and I are always here for you. And, although he is still young, Itachi is a very wise child; he wants to be there for his older sister as well."

I remained silent.

Taking my silence as a desire for him to leave, he got off the bed. Just as he reached the door, I spoke in a soft voice.

"Arigato, Otou-san."

* * *

Our clan held a funeral for Obito. Rin, Kakashi, and Minato-sensei joined us. I sat between Kakashi and Itachi. The Hokage spoke about Obito's bravery, his kindness, and his determination. I cried silently, trying not to draw attention to myself, but Kakashi noticed. He covered my shaking hand with his. I looked up at his masked face, his eyes filled with sorrow and concern, and I mouthed "thank you".

* * *

After the funeral, I approached Rin.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Kaede," she said. "I know how much Obito meant to you."

"What about you? You lost someone special too."

"Yes, Obito was a dear friend and comrade."

"That's all? After all these years, you still didn't return his love?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't believe you, Rin. He loved you more than anything-or anyone-in the world. He'd give up everything if it meant helping you. And you still didn't even realize it."

"Kaede, that's enough," Kakashi said.

"You're taking her side?!"

"I'm taking Obito's side. He wouldn't want two of his closest friends fighting."

Tears filled my eyes, threatening to fall. I knew Kakashi was right, but DAMN IT! I was so...EVERYTHING! Hurt! Angry! Sad! Confused! Jealous! I just wanted to scream and bite someone's head off!

Rin did the last thing I expected anyone to do: she hugged me.

And then the tears fell.

Kakashi joined our hug, showing that he was here for both of us.

Obito was gone now. We had to stick together. No more fighting amongst ourselves. We had to make Obito proud of us as he looked on from the afterlife.


	7. Chapter 7

**An: So, if you've seen episode 425 of Naruto Shippuden (released 8/20/15 or 8/21/15 depending on what timezone you're in) you know that some new information was just released about Rin's death. I'm not going to spoil it, but there are some potential spoilers if you haven't seen all of what lead up to Rin's death.**

Not long after Kakashi, Rin, and I had all made amends and decided to be friends, Rin got kidnapped by the Bloody Mist. So Kakashi lead a team to go retrieve her. I was on the team as well. Minato-sensei was on another mission at the time, so he wouldn't be joining us. Unfortunately, we were ambushed by a team of jonin and ANBU waiting for us. Almost all of our team was unable to continue with the mission, except myself and Kakashi.

"We have to keep going, Kakashi," I said.

"Yeah, I know. I promised Obito I'd protect her."

I tensed up at the mention of Obito. His name still brought up painful memories for all of us. The wound was still fairly fresh in our hearts.

"Yeah, we need to do this for Obito," I said solemnly. "Mina, get back home and get checked out by the medics. Kakashi and I will continue on with the mission."

"Are you sure about this, Captain Kakashi?"

"I'm sure. Do as Kaede said. Get back home."

Kakashi and I sped along the forest to the hide out of the Mist ANBU.

"What's the plan, Captain?"

"I'll create a distraction. You take out the guards."

"Roger."

When we reached the little cave, Kakashi summoned his ninja dogs and I went to the entrance of the cave.

"Who goes there?" one of the guards shouted.

"It's a Konoha Shinobi! Attack!"

I opened my eyes and revealed my sharingan. In no time, they were under my genjutsu. Kakashi appeared behind me.

"Good work; let's go get Rin."

Said girl was tied to a post a little ways into the cave.

"She's under a genjutsu." Kakashi observed.

"I'm on it. Release!"

Rin blinked a couple of times.

"Kakashi? Kaede?"

"It's ok, Rin; we're here." I said.

"You were kidnapped by Mist Shinobi. We've got to get you out of here. Hurry!"

We quickly untied her and made our way out of the cave.

Kakashi ordered his ninja dogs to create a distraction while we escaped.

"I feel weird..." Rin said as we ran through the trees."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What did those guys do to you?"

"I'm not really sure. They were preforming some kind of ritual, but I blacked out. But I feel really strange now...Like something's inside of me..."

"There they are! Don't let them get away!"

"Dammit!" I cursed. "We've got to hurry; they're catching up!"

We fought as we ran.

"Damn they're persistent," Kakashi said

"Kakashi, Kaede...I can't return to the village," Rin said.

"What are you talking about, Rin?" I asked.

"Kakashi, you have to kill me right now!"

"What!" we both exclaimed.

"They're using me! If I go back, the village will be attacked!"

"We're not going to kill you Rin!" I shouted at her.

"I promised Obito I would protect you!" Kakashi shouted. "I can't do such a thing!"

"Yeah, so knock it off! We're not going against Obito's final wish!"

"We'll figure out another way out of this."

"Either way, we need to get back home," I said. "Someone there will know what to do."

"I'll distract them," Kakashi said as he stopped on a branch. "Kaede, get her home."

"I can't do that!" Rin said as she turned back.

"Dammit Rin! Just let us help you!"

A battle broke out. We were surrounded by Mist Shinobi. Kakashi was about to take one out with his Chidori, but Rin jumped in the way.

"Rin! No!" I cried.

I didn't see what happened next; a Mist Shinobi managed to get inside my guard while I was running to protect Rin and I was cut down. The wound was deep and I couldn't hear or see anything. There was only pain and silence. Was I dead?

"H..He..el..lp..." I tried to cry out. "I...I'm st...ti...il..ll...h..he...er...re..."

I tried to open my eyes. I could see some shadows, but that was it.

Then I saw a face hovering above me and a single sharingan. I looked carefully at the face, and, as soon as my vision focused, I could tell who it was in a heart beat.

"O..ob...bi...it...to..."

And then I passed out again.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital.

"She's awake!" a nurse called out into the hall.

"Kaede! Oh my baby!" my mother cried as she rushed in and hugged me.

"Kaa-san...that hurts..." I winced.

"Oh sorry, Kaede..."

"Nee-chan!" Itachi cried as he and my father ran in.

"Thank goodness you are alright," my father said. "You really had us worried this time, Kaede." His voice was gentle this time. I knew he was really worried about me.

"Kaede..." I looked at the door. It was Kakashi. He looked miserable.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san, Otouto, can I have a minute alone with Kakashi?"

"Of course," my father said as he lead my little brother and very pregnant mother out.

"Kakashi, what happened? Where's Rin? Is she ok?"

He looked more miserable than I had ever seen him.

"Kakashi...did she...?"

"Yes...she intercepted the blow of the Chidori meant for the Mist Shinobi...she's dead."

"Kami..."

"I thought you were dead too. After...After it happened...something weird happened to my left eye...my sharingan from Obito...and I passed out. You were already down when I passed out. I woke up and everyone was dead. You barely had a heartbeat when I finally found your body."

"Kakashi...I saw...I saw him...Obito..."

"You probably we on the other side for a little while and he was there to great you..."

"No, it wasn't like that...It was different...I can't explain it..."

 **an: and that's where we'll end it for today. Next time, we'll see how Kaede and Kakashi deal with the trauma of losing their comrades. Kakashi and Kaede bond over being the sole survivors of their genin teams. And the miracle of birth ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

Iwa, Suna, and Konoha had agreed on a peace treaty. Minato-sensei had been named the fourth hokage. Things were looking up in the leaf village. And yet, I couldn't seem to get happy. I had taken to following around Kakashi to make sure he was safe. I couldn't say that I was making sure he was ok, because he was just about as far from ok as one could get. He as beyond miserable. I would bring him food every day, but he wouldn't eat it. He hardly left home. Whenever I came over to see him, he was washing his hand. Not hands, hand. The one that had killed Rin.

One day, I followed Kakashi out to a tree near the cemetery. He didn't seem to notice my presence in the tree not to far from him. Instead, he was staring at his hand. He suddenly waved the hand signs for Chidori. He was staring at it. He looked so miserable. I couldn't stand to see him this way.

I jumped down from the tree and wrapped him in a hug from behind.

"It's going to be alright, Kakashi," I said. "Obito and Rin...they wouldn't want you to suffer like this. You don't have to bottle up everything you're feeling. I know exactly what it is you're feeling. After my teammates died, I went through the same thing. They died to save my life, simply because I was the heir to our clan. My sensei...he jumped in front of me to take the kunai meant for me. It got him right in the heart. So I know what it's like to blame yourself for someone else's death."

"Kaede..."

He put his hand over mine, squeezing it slightly.

"I'm always here if you want to talk."

"Oi! Kakashi!" Gai called as he rushed over to us. I released Kakashi from my embrace so not to cause any questions from Gai. "You've got a mission, and you need to head out right away."

Kakashi headed out for his mission right away. I went to find Gai.

"Oi! Gai!" I called to him.

"Kaede? What is it?"

"I'm worried about Kakashi. This seems like a big mission for him to carry out right now."

"He's a jonin, Kaede. I'm sure he can handle it."

"It's not his ability that I'm worried about; he's not in his right mind. I'm worried he'll lose his focus. Will you come with me to go after him?"

Gai smirked. "He's my eternal rival! I have to go after him don't I!"

I sighed, but smiled. "Arigato."

We caught up with Kakashi just in time. He was surrounded by a single man and his clones, but didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight.

Gai jumped in with his "Konoha Gooriki Senpuu", destroying all of the clones. Gai, the two ANBU that had accompanied us, and myself surrounded Kakashi to protect him.

"This isn't like you! Why are you zoning out?!" Gai snapped at Kakashi.

"S-sorry..." Kakashi mumbled. He didn't look so good. He was starting to stumble.

"Kakashi!" I cried out as he fell to one knee, gasping for breath. I recognized this: a panic attack.

I held on to his shoulders tightly.

"We need to get him back to Konoha, right now!"

The ANBU carried him home. After that, Gai and I were called in to the Yondaime's office. We told him what happened.

"Soo desu ka?" He asked after we finished telling our tale.

"Hai," Gai said. "I've never seen Kakashi like that before."

"I'm glad you both secretly followed him," Yondaime said.

"This is exactly the kind of situation where an Eternal Rival has to act!"

"I know what he's going through, Yondaime-sama. I had panic attacks like that after my team died. It takes a while, but if he surrounds himself with people that love him and seeks out help, they can lessen over time and become manageable."

"Thank you both; you've done enough. Please leave the rest to me."

As much as I trusted the Yondaime, I still followed him to the hospital and listened to his and Kakashi's conversation from the roof.

"I came here today to give you an order to join the ANBU reporting directly to the Hokage."

"Why would you even want me?"

"I want you to work for me as my right hand. Oh, and I want you on ANBU as well, Kaede. Your stealth skills have improved tremendously."

"It's still not enough to fool you though is it, Hokage-sama." I said as I jumped in through the window.

"Kaede...what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked.

"I have to keep an eye on you, don't I? Also, my mother went into labor last night while Gai and I went after you. She just gave birth this morning so I went to check on her after Gai and I spoke with Hokage-sama. My baby brother's name is Sasuke. Just like the Sandaime's father!"

After I was dismissed by the Hokage, I went to visit my mother in the maternity ward.

"Kaede-nee!" Itachi exclaimed happily when I entered the room.

"There you are, Kaede," my father said. "I was wondering where you went."

"Sorry, Otoo-san. I went to check on Kakashi."

Okaa-san was asleep on the bed, exhausted from giving birth, so we spoke quietly. Baby Sasuke was starting to stir in his bassinet, so I picked up the small babe.

"Hi, Sasuke," I cooed as I bobbed up and down slightly to soothe him. "I'm your big sister, Kaede. I'm going to take care of you and protect you forever. I promise."


	9. Chapter 9

Not long after Kakashi and I had been admitted to ANBU, we learned that Kushina-ba-sama (1) was pregnant. Yondaime-sama immediately pulled Kakashi and I from our normal ANBU duties to watch over and protect his wife. Kakashi was distancing himself from everyone, even me. His actions in the ANBU has earned him the nicknamed "Cold-Blooded Kakashi". Since I was always fussing over him, the ANBU folks started calling me "Mother Hen" when were amongst ourselves. They even gave me a bird mask.

Kushina-ba-sama's pregnancy went by all too fast. Before I knew it, it was time for her to give birth. Yondaime-sama had informed Kakashi and me that Sandaime-sama's personal ANBU would be overseeing her delivery. We were free to take some time off.

I decided to pay a visit to my fallen comrades. After stopping by the Yamanaka flower shop, I headed to the grave yard. Kakashi had just been leaving when I got there.

"Hey, Kakashi, do you want to grab dinner later?" I asked as I passed him.

"You'll just tie me down and force-feed me your home cooked meals if I don't show up."

"You make it sound like my cooking is bad. Whatever. Just be at Ichi Raku's by 5 ok?"

He nodded before continuing on his way.

As I continued on my way to the grave yard, I noticed a cloaked figure standing over Rin's grave. He ripped her flower's from their container and threw them across the yard.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing! That's my friend's grave!"

The figure looked up. He wore a stripped orange mask. One eye had a sharingan spiraling.

"Who are you? Why do you have a sharingan?"

My own sharingan spiraled to life. I looked at his chakra. I knew this chakra. It was just like Obito's, but it was different. Colder. Full of hatred.

"No...you can't be..."

He faded from sight.

"Obito!" I screamed.

He was gone.

I dropped to my knees and pounded the earth, tears flowing from my eyes. Why did I keep seeing him?! He's dead! But he's everywhere! Was someone intentionally screwing with my head? Was I crazy? Was Obito actually still alive?

I kept my craziness to myself.

Not long after I saw "Obito", the unthinkable happened: Yondaime-sama died. No one really knew how he died, all they know was that the night that the Kyuubi attacked, everyone that was present for Kushina-ba-sama's delivery was dead, including the expecting parents. When the giant fox disappeared, all that was left was a small blond baby with whisker marks on his cheeks and a spiral seal on his belly. Sandaime-sama said his name was Naruto and we were never, ever supposed to mention the Kyuubi attack ever again. The boy was clearly Minato-sama and Kushina-ba-sama's son. He looked identical to Yondaime-sama. I knew it the second I saw him in the hospital. All of the nurses were too scared to go near him. I took it upon myself to care for the small child.

Little did I know that little Uzumaki Naruto would change the fate of the Ninja World.

1)ba-sama is a formal way of saying aunt

Sorry it's been so long and this isn't much. It's been hard to write these lately. I'm doing a time skip to the beginning of the series next chapter. Everything in between now and then will be flashbacks. Thanks for your patients.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Sorry these have been short lately. I've lacked inspiration. Now I have it and a good plot line. We're skipping forward to the start of the series. There will be flashbacks here and there and there will be some divergence from the plot. If there are any ships you'd like to see, let me know :) There will be some KakashiXKaede here and there. Sasuke and Naruto's pairings for this story have already been picked out, but that will be revealed later. Thanks for sticking with this and for being patient with me. I've been going through some shit at home, but I'm hoping this will help me heal.**

So much had happened in the 12 years since the Kyuubi attack. After the attack, I left ANBU, even though I had only been there for a few months, in favor of continuing my skills as a medical ninja. Tomoyo-sensei had been teaching me, but I hadn't so much as healed a scrap on Itachi's knee since he had died.

While I worked on my medical skills, I was also spending as much time with baby Naruto as I could. I hated how little Naruto was left at the Orphanage where no one cared about him. I argued with my parents about adopting him into our own family many times, but especially on Naruto, Kushina-ba-sama, and Minato-sama's birthdays.

I remember the final fight I had with my parents on this matter on Naruto's 3rd birthday, when I was 16.

* * *

"That poor little boy, all alone in that orphanage where no one shows him any love..." I thought out loud that night. The village was celebrating and mourning at the same time: mourning the fallen and celebrating the fox's defeat. There were bright lights in the streets and men drinking with their comrades, sharing stories of those who had died that night. "Okaa-san, why can't we just adopt Naruto? It's been three years and he hasn't found a new family to take him in. He's spent his entire life being hated, never getting loved. The only ones who are ever there for him are the Sandaime and myself, sometimes Kakashi."

"Kaede, we've had this argument before..." My mother started. "That child is trouble. You know what they say about him. And it's true. The proof is all over his face."

I knew what she was referring too. She thought that he was the Kyuubi in human form. She thought that was the thing that killed her best friend.

"Okaa-san, I know Naruto! He is your best friend's son! Not the demon fox that she carried inside her. How can you turn your back on all that remains of Minato-sama and Kushina-ba-sama?!"

"That's enough, Kaede," my father said from the other room, where he was listening in on our conversation. Itachi and little Sasuke popped their heads in the door to overhear the argument.

"If you two won't adopt him, I will!"

"What?!" my parents exclaimed.

There was a knock at the door. Itachi answered it. My masked best friend walked in the door, still in his ANBU uniform, minus the ANBU mask.

"I see Kaede is talking about adopting Naruto again..." He said.

"Maybe you can talk some sense into her Kakashi," my mother nearly begged him. "She's decided to adopt him herself!"

"Kaede, you are not having that blond fox brat in this house," my father said coldly. "That's final. Besides that, you can't raise adopt a child; you're only sixteen and you're not even married."

"I'll marry Kakashi then and we'll adopt him together. I'm sure the Sandaime will agree, don't you think so, Kakashi?"

Kakashi's one eye spoke volumes to how he felt on this manner.

"Kaede, please don't drag me into this. Yow know I want Naruto to get adopted as much as you, but we're too young. And I'm not going to marry you."

"What? You don't think I'm pretty enough to be your wife? Is that it?"

"I didn't say that. We're too young. And, you may be my best friend, but we're not lovers."

"Thank the Kami..." my father said under his breath.

"Fine. If none of you will help me, I'm going to the Sandaime's office right now and telling him I'll adopt him myself. Then we'll live on our own. I'm not letting that child go another day without a family."

I marched passed Kakashi and ran to the Hokage's office.

The Hokage was hesitant to let me adopt Naruto, only for my age. But, after reminding him that I had been caring for Naruto his whole life, he agreed to let me adopt him. He even gave me some money to help us get settled.

The three year old was thrilled when I told him he could come home with me. We spent the rest of the day shopping for the necessities Naruto would need immediately, while saving the majority of the money from Hokage-sama to find us a home and furniture. In the meantime, I had some friends that would let us sleep at their place until we could find a place of our own.

Kakashi was my first stop. I showed up on his door step with the spoils of our shopping trip in one hand and a sleeping Naruto on my shoulder.

"There you are Kaede. I see you have Naruto with you. Please come in."

I came in and found my father sitting on the couch. It was late now and mother was probably home with Itachi and Sasuke.

"What are you doing here, Otou-san?" I whispered so as not to wake Naruto.

"I figured this would be the first place you would come after getting the boy."

"If you're here to officially kick me out, I already figured as much. I'll be by for my stuff as soon as Naruto and I find a spot to live."

"You already have one, Kaede." my father said. "The spare room doesn't get much use. The boy can sleep there. I'm not letting my 16 year old daughter live on her own just yet."

"Wait? What?"

"You can come home, Kaede. You both can."

"Really Otou-san?"

"Your mother and I talked with Kakashi here. He reminded it would not be difficult for you to convince Hokage-sama to let you adopt Naruto. And you would only be able to afford a small place on your own, or worse, be homeless. Neither of us wanted that for you. So, we will let him stay with you at home. I don't want him to call you "Okaa-san" though. I don't like the idea of my 16 year old daughter being a mother."

I laughed softly.

"Arigoto, Tou-san."

* * *

Naruto lived happily with my family for 5 years. He and Sasuke fought a lot, both battling for mine and Itachi's attention, but they were also best friends.

And then everything changed. Everyone in my family except me, Sasuke, and Naruto were killed by Itachi. Sasuke and Naruto found me near death on the floor of our home. After that, Sasuke changed. Something happened between him and Itachi. He lost his light, his innocence. Naruto changed too, although not as much as Sasuke. The protection he had gotten from being in the home of the Uchiha clan leader's home went away. People started bullying him left and right. Sometimes is was small things, like a comment referring to the kyuubi, but other times it was violent, where he would come home beaten up. More than once he'd been in the hospital, under my care of course. I didn't trust anyone else to care for him properly.

I changed as well. I put on a fake smile for everyone to see, but my heart was cold as ice. Inside, I was cold and distrusting of everyone except the few people I called my friends.

Kakashi saw the change in me. Just like when I saw it in him. He left the ANBU joined the regular jonin ranks. He insisted on staying with us most nights. He knew I wasn't sleeping right. He knew I was pushing people other than Sasuke and Naruto away.

I tried to push him away, but Kakashi never gave up on me and worked his way into my heart and started to thaw it.

Slowly, but surely, he helped me put my life back together and become the mother my two boys needed me to be.

One day I just woke up in Kakashi's arms after a night of crying my eyes out in between night mares of my family, Obito, and my genin team, and I was ok. I just woke up and I was able to function again. It still hurt. I still get nightmares. And I still cry, a lot. But I'm able to function now.

Now we're in a routine that we call "normal". Kakashi is gone before I wake up, so as not to be seen by Naruto or Sasuke. I make the boys breakfast and send them off to school. I go to the hospital, have lunch with Kaksashi if he's not out on a mission, and teach a class on basic medical ninjutsu to some genin and chunin. Then I pick the boys up from school. Make them dinner. Help them with their homework. Train with them. Then put them to bed. If Kakashi's not out on a mission, he climbs into my bed in the middle of the night and holds me while I dream. Sometime during all of this, we became lovers. One night, we'd both had nightmares-him about Rin and me about Obito. We were both in so much pain we tried to comfort no only each other, but ourselves as well. Honestly, it was a big blur. I think I cried most of the time. But it became a regular thing after a while. We use sex as a distraction and a way of coping with the lose. We've talked about our relationship a number of times and we're both clear that our relationship is not one of true love-no, those people for us have died-but we're the only one's we allow ourselves to be close to anymore.

* * *

I let out a heavy sigh as I approach the academy. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the past on my way here. It's taken it's toll on me. It was graduation examination day. I look around for my two boys to see if they passed. I find Sasuke quickly.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"I passed, of course."

"Don't be so arrogant. It takes more than a simple test to become a full blown genin. Wait until you go through survival training. My genin sensei was a student of one of the legendary Sanin. So he kicked our asses until we learned our lesson."

"What happened?"

"If I told you, you won't learn your lesson tomorrow."

"Hn..."

"That's not a word," I said as I moved to poke him in the forehead, but he pushed my hand back. I looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I know that's what _he_ used to do with you. Sometimes I can forget. Sometimes."

"How can you forget something like that?"

"I don't know. Honestly, when I get really happy or really excited, I slip. I think they're still waiting at home for us. Okaa-san...Otou-san...Itachi...I'm just waiting for them to jump out and say 'boo'... Anyway, where's Naruto? Did he pass?"

"I sure did!" Naruto said as he approached us. "It's all thanks to your training Kaede-nee-chan."

"Good job! Both of you, I'm proud!"

I hug my boys; Sasuke looks annoyed.

"Come on, I'll make you a special dinner."

"Yay!"


	11. Chapter 11

The sound of footsteps echoed through the apartment as I prepared dinner. Naruto and Sasuke were outside training; there was only one other person who would be entering my apartment at this hour.

"Welcome home, Kakashi," I said softly as arms snaked their way around my waist.

"I'm home, Kaede." I felt his masked lips press a kiss against my neck. I sighed constantly at his touch.

"You know, the boys are outside and probably will be for a while..."

"None of that now, Kakashi; I'm making dinner! Go read your pervy book or something!"

He chuckled and pulled his book out of his pouch.

"The boys both passed their exams at the academy today."

"Really? Naruto too? Your training must have paid off, Kaede. He wasn't doing that well in school last time I checked."

"He'll be a splendid ninja soon enough. He just needed to find the right motivation."

"What did you tell him to motivate him."

"I told him our little secret."

"You haven't even told Sasuke yet. Or confirmed it. It's just your suspicions."

"Even if I'm wrong, telling him motivated him. After all, you know how protective he gets over the three of us."

"I suppose you're right."

I chuckled. "I always am."

Soon enough, dinner was done and the boys were called in. Kakashi did the dishes while I tiered up the house a little bit, not daring to go near Naruto's room. Then Kakashi and I spared. He won. We showered and went to bed.

* * *

 _"...Hey, listen: I'm not ready to talk about what happened or who it is I like, but I'll tell you when you get back from your mission, ok?"_

 _Obito smiled at me. "Deal! I'll hold you to it!"_

 _He gave me the thumbs up. I watched him walk away. Then rocks came crashing down from the sky, crushing him._

 _"Obito!"_

"Kaede! Wake up!"

* * *

I was pulled from my nightmare as Kakashi shook me awake; Naruto and Sasuke were standing in the doorway. I was shaking.

"Obi..to...I saw him die...I saw him..."

"Kaede, you're okay." Kakashi said as he held me. "Go back to bed, boys. I've got this."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged looks before nodding at Kakashi and leaving the room.

"It's been a while since you went to see anyone. Come with me tomorrow. Seeing them will do you some good."

"If you say so..."

* * *

The next day, I went to pay a visit to the graves of my fallen friends and family.

"Mina, sorry I haven't been by in a while." I said to the graves. "Naruto and Sasuke keep me busy. Being a mom to two young boys is hard. I don't know how you did it with three kids, Okaa-san. I've been training hard with my medical ninjutsu, Tomoyo-sensei. You'd be proud of me. I've been thinking about seeking out Tsunade-sama to learn more, but, if it might be difficult for me to travel soon, so I'll probably stick with learning what I can at the hospital. I work in the maternity ward now. You guys know how much I've always love babies. I wish you all could be here now. I saw you in a dream again, Obito. I saw you die. It was so painful so watch that. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you, Kakashi, and Rin. I wish I had told you that day before you left how I felt about you. I never got to confess my love to you, but you were so in love with Rin that I was scared of losing you as a friend. It seems so silly now. If I could go back, I would have told you. Itachi, I remember, thought I was silly for worrying about confessing to you when you got back. Speaking of Itachi, I haven't heard from him since that night. I hope he's alright. I know what he did is awful, but he's my little brother. How can I not worry about him? I worry about him all the time. I wonder if he's taking care of himself. He's probably not. He never thinks of himself first. Always a ninja, never a man. He needs to take care of himself. I wonder if you guys will ever forgive us for what happened that night."

I sat there and talked for hours. Kakashi came by and brought me food around midday. He even joined me for a little while. But eventually had to go meet up with his new genin: our boys and Haruno Sakura. I laughed about that match up to my fallen loved ones.

"Okaa-san and Kushina-ba-sama would have loved this. Their sons on the same team."

"There's one thing from all those years ago that still bothers me to this day...that masked man. He had the same chakra as you, Obito, except it was so cold and full of hatred. It was you, but it wasn't you. It was like you had some evil twin out there. I know this: he's involved with all of this some how. The night of the Kyuubi attack. The night our clan was massacred. That man was involved somehow."

 **an: sorry if this was a little dialog heavy. reviews are appreciated :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**An: Warning, this is a long chapter. Like it's over 3K words. Hope you like it :)**

Team Kakashi had successfully completed their first C ranked mission. They'd done a lot of D ranked missions around the village, but this was their first C mission. Kakashi told me that is should have been a B ranked, probably A ranked, mission, but that the kids did well. Sasuke had reawaken his sharingan, Naruto got in touch with the Kyuubi's powers, and even Sakura did well. Kakashi had over done it with the Sharingan-which earned him a scolding from me-but was ultimately ok.

Since the C ranked mission, Kakashi and the kids had been up to more D ranked missions. I had been busy working at the hospital. But something exciting was about to happen: the Chunin exams. Kakashi told me that he was enrolling the kids in them.

The day before the exams, I felt a strange chakra enter the village. I went to check it out. I activated my sharingan and followed my senses to a short red headed sand genin with the kanji for love on his forehead. He was with two other sand genin and who appeared to be their sensei.

"I would appreciate it if you stopped staring at us with those sharingan of yours, Uchiha Kaede," the man said.

I recognized the sensei as someone I'd worked with before on joint missions with Suna.

"My apologies, Baki-san. I felt a strange chakra enter the village. I've tracked it to this young boy." I approached him. I noticed his team mates growing nervous. I leaned down to his height and looked him in the eye. Using my sharingan, I found the source of chakra.

I found myself in what seemed to be a prison within the boy's mindscape. Behind the bars was the One Tails.

The boy was present as well.

"What are you doing?! How did you get in here?!"

"For someone who knows how to use the sharingan, it is not a difficult task to enter the mind of a jinchuriki. If I wanted to, I could control this beast inside of you, as well as yourself. But I won't. I believe in free will. But I warn you of this, boy. I sense your anger and hatred. If you harm anyone here outside of the exams, I will not go easy on you."

The one tails gave a mighty cackle.

"As if you could hurt us!"

I glanced at him and tamed him with my sharingan.

"You...you made him be quiet..."

"I can tell this bijuu causes you great harm. It is often the fate of jinchuriki to live terrible lives, untrusted or even hated by others, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you want help with the one tails, I can show you how to control him."

"I don't need your help." he insisted.

I released us from the mindscape.

"I will bid you all a good day. Good luck in the exams." I started to walk away. "And think about what I said, boy."

* * *

I didn't see much of my boys after the Chunin Exams started. Kakashi was busy training Sasuke, and Naruto had his own teacher. Both of them had made it to the final round of the chunin exams. I was very proud of them.

Now I was sitting in the stands with Kurenai, Asuma, and Gai watching the final round of the chunin exams. Naruto won against the Hyuga boy, which earned me bragging rights over Gai. The Nara boy would have won against the girl from the Sand, but forfeited like the lazy brat he was, so she moved on to the next round. The puppet boy from Suna forfeited his match against the Aburame kid before they even got down to the field. That was really boring. Now it was time for Sasuke and the sand's jinchuriki.

"Where are Kakashi and Sasuke?" I wondered. "They're really late..."

As if on que, Kakashi and Sasuke appeared on the field. Flashy as always.

Kakashi took to the stands and sat next to me.

"You're late..." I said coldly.

"Aww, you were worried about me."

"No, I was worried that you worked my kid brother to death and ran away because you were too scared to face my wrath."

"I missed you too, Kaede."

I chuckled and kissed his masked cheek.

"I sure hope all that training was worth being late. You missed your chance to rub Naruto's victory against Neji in Gai's face. I had to do it for you."

"And you enjoyed every second of it, didn't you."

"My kid won and an arrogant Hyuga got put in his place. What's not to love?"

"Hey Sensei," Sakura, who was sitting in front of me, spoke up. "You know there was a mark on Sasuke's neck, right?" She sounded really worried.

"What's this about a mark, Kakashi?" I asked.

"It's nothing to worry about," he assured me.

Kakashi started looking around. I followed his gaze. He was looking at the ANBU staffed around the arena. I took count.

"There's only 8 of them..." I noted aloud.

"In an arena this size? That's not nearly enough." Kakashi stated. "What could Hokage-sama be thinking?"

"We don't know how the enemy's going to act," Gai said. "They've probably been dispersed though out the key parts of the village. We need to keep our guard up."

Keep our guard up?

"What do you two know that I don't?" I demanded.

"You've been stationed in the maternity ward lately, so I guess the news hasn't reached the medics there yet," Kakashi began. "Orochimaru is leading the Sound village."

"What?"

"And he's infiltrated the chunin exams."

"For what purpose?"

"We don't know yet, but he's expressed interest in Sasuke."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you. Especially because Suna might be involved with Orochimaru some how."

"But...they're allies...what could the Kazekage be thinking?"

"I don't know. They haven't officially acted against us, so Hokage-sama hasn't retaliated. Just stay low and on guard. I'll keep you safe."

"I can take care of myself just fine, Kakashi."

"I know that...It's just that you're..."

"Shh the match is starting." Gai said, cutting him off.

I eyed the red head, Gaara. He had a menacing look on his face, like he was ready to kill. I squeezed Kakashi's hand. He squeezed back, letting me know everything would be alright. In the ring, Genma signaled for the match to begin. Immediately, sand rose from the gourd on Gaara's back. Then he froze and held a hand to his head, as if he were in pain.

"Please, don't get so mad at me," he said. He's talking to the Ichibi, I realized. He kept talking to it about blood, Sasuke's blood. I may pity the redheaded Jinchuriki for his fate, but there was no way in hell I was letting him kill my baby brother. He winced in pain and the sand dropped. He was breathing heavily.

'Seems he's gotten control of it,' I thought to myself.

The fighting began. Sasuke was using taijutsu at a speed I'd never seen him achieve before. Gaara was using a sand clone, but couldn't seem to keep up with Sasuke's speed. Every blow he took, the sand seemed to follow him, cushioning the fall. Sasuke kept making cocky remarks.

"That training...what did you two do?" Gai asked. "To reach that level in just a month..."

"Sasuke has copied Lee's taijutsu with his Sharingan." he explained.

Gai seemed deep in thought over this information.

I turned my attention back to the battle. Gaara enclosed himself in a sphere of sand. Every time Sasuke attacked it, spikes formed to defend itself.

"Kakashi-sensei!'

We looked behind us to see Naruto and the Nara boy running towards us. They seemed panicked.

"What is it, Naruto?" I asked. "What's got you so worked up?"

"You have to stop this match right away! The guy Sasuke's fighting is totally different from the rest of us! He's about as far from normal as you can get! He thinks his purpose in life is to kill people! If this match continues, Sasuke will die! You've gotta believe me!"

"Relax, no need to panic," Kakashi said.

"What's with you being so laid back today? It's creeping me out!" I said. "That's my baby brother down there! There's no way in Hell I'm letting him get killed!"

"Kaede," Kakashi stated calmly, "Think of the-"

"Yeah I know! So you better be prepared to step in and save his ass!"

"You know, Sasuke and I weren't just goofing around. There's a reason we were so late getting here."

"You said there was a reason you were late," Sakura said. "What were you doing?"

"It's a bit of a long story.."

Naruto started flipping a shit. "This is no time for talking!"

"That's right," Kakashi said. "So be quiet and watch the match. Just keep your eye on Sasuke. He's about to surprise you."

Sasuke ran up the wall of the arena and stared forming hand signs. Chakra started forming around his hand.

"You didn't..."

"I did."

It was the Chidori.

"So this is what the Uchiha are capable of..." Gai said.

"Damn straight," I said proudly.

Sasuke struck Gaara's sand shield and pierced right through it.

"Blood! It's my blood!" Gaara shrieked.

Sasuke's arm was stuck in the sand sphere. When he finally got it out, an arm followed after him. The Ichibi's arm.

'Oh no! that's not good!'

I could sense the Ichihbi chakra growing stronger.

The sand shield disappeared, leaving just Gaara. He was bleeding from his shoulder.

Suddenly, people started dropping like flies. A genjutsu was falling over the entire arena. I quickly released it. What the hell was going on?

There was an explosion from the Kage's booth.

ANBU took to action, but a barrier formed around the two kage before the ANBU could reach them. It seemed as though the Kazekage had taken Hokage-sama captive.

"This isn't good..." I said.

An ANBU appeared with four sound ninja. An imposter, I realized.

I see Gaara and his siblings fleeing followed by Sasuke.

"Quite a lot of them," Kakashi said.

"We've been careless," Gai added. "And now...even Hokage-sama...Huh? Kakashi! Kaede! Look! Inside the barrier!"

We looked to where the Hokage was. But it wasn't the Kazekage holding a kunai to Hokage-sama's neck...It was Orochimaru in the kazekage's clothes.

"This is bad...really bad..."

Then the fighting broke out. Sound ninja and our own comrades clashed. Gai, Kakashi, and I were back to back, protecting each other.

"I'm worried about Hokage-sama," Gai said.

"Leave that to the ANBU," Kakashi said. "Besides, Hokage-sama isn't just some pushover, you know."

"Yeah, but..."

"Just remember, Gai, he _is_ the Hokage. He can handle it. Besides that, we have enough to handle here. I need your help protecting Kaede."

"I'm not helpless, you know..."

"I know you're not. But I don't want to take any risks. Take Sakura and wake up Naruto and Shikamaru from the genjutsu. Gai and I will cover you."

I looked down to the pinkette hiding under the bleachers and nodded.

Kakashi cut his thumb and quickly waved some signs. Pakkun appeared.

"Pakkun, go with Kaede and the kids. Go find Sasuke and the sand ninja."

"Right," the small ninja dog said.

"Come on, Pinky," I said and hurried over to the unconscious boys.

I released the genjutsu on Naruto.

"Kaede-nee-chan? What's going on?" Naruto said sleepily.

"Look out!" Sakura cried.

Naruto ducked, but I calmly blocked the kunai aimed at my head.

"We'll fill you in later, Naruto, just stay calm and keep you head down. Sakura, mind telling that lazy brat to stop playing around and get up."

"Huh?" She took a closer look at the Nara boy and glared at him.

"Pakkun bit him on the ankle causing the boy to yelp in pain.

Naruto looked around, stunned.

"What is all this?" he wondered.

"Behind you!" Sakura screamed.

A sound ninja was behind Naruto with a kunai.

Before anyone could blink, I had pounded the guy into the wall, my Sharingan spiraling angrily.

"DON'T. TOUCH. MY. KID." my voice was deadly cold. "This is what the beginning of war looks like, kids. If things don't turn around real soon, you're going to have to get used to this. It may very well become your future."

They gulped.

There was a hole where I had pounded the sound ninja before.

"Alright you four, let's get going. We need to stop Sasuke and the sand kids then find a place to hide out until things calm down. Got it?"

Sakura, Naruto, and Pakkun nodded. Shikamaru groaned.

We quickly made our way out of the village, using Pakkun to follow Sasuke's scent. We were quickly found by a group of Sound ninjas.

"There's a lot of them..." I thought aloud. "You kids go on ahead. I'll take care of these guys then catch up."

"But Nee-chan..." Naruto started.

"I can handle them, Naruto. You forget, I'm a jonin."

"Yeah, but you're also..."

"No buts! Get going! I'll catch up!"

I stopped in my tracks. I was instantly surrounded by enemy ninja. I did a head count. There were ten of them and one of me.

"Well, well, well..." one of the sound ninjas said smugly. "If it isn't Uchiha Kaede, the last female Uchiha. Orochimaru-sama has been dying to get his hands on you."

"Oh really? The way I heard it, he was interested in my baby brother. Of course, I'm sure it was Itachi that originally interested him in the Uchiha clan. Who wouldn't be interested in power as great as Itachi's. But I guess my otouto was too much for that pathetic snake to handle. So he has to go after a child."

"You bitch!" another one of the sound shinobi snarled. "You dare insult the great Orochimaru-sama! I will take your head, Uchiha!"

"Calm down! Uchiha Kaede is no joke. She became an ANBU at the age of 13 and her genjutsu skills were said to have been only surpassed by Uchiha Shisui. Besides, Orochimaru-sama will want her alive."

"Are we going to stand here talking, or are you guys ready to get your butts kicked?" I smirked as my sharingan spiraled to life.

They came at me. Jutsu and kunai flew everywhere. Even though there were ten of them, it was easy for me to dodge them. These guys were chunin at best. I didn't even have to use any taijutsu. I weaved my way through their flying bodies, causing some of them to collide and knock each other out. Others got trapped in my genjutsu and turned on each other. Soon it was just me and the last three of them.

I felt a spike in a dangerous chakra. Far away, I saw the ichibi and the kyuubi fighting. Shit, that's not good.

"I don't have time for you," I said simply.

My sharingan changed to my mangekyo sharingan. I sent them into the Tsukuyomi dreamscape and used it to knock them out instantly.

I ran to where I had seen the Ichibi and Kyubi fighting, fearing the worse, but arrived to see both Gaara and Naruto nearly unconscious on the ground, bloody and broken but out of their bijuu forms. Sasuke and Gaara's siblings were looking like they were about to fight.

"That's enough, all of you," I said.

"Nee-san..." Sasuke said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to stop this senseless fighting. Where are Sakura, Pakkun, and Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru broke off before they got here. Sakura's unconscious, but fine. Pakkun disappeared."

"Alright. I want you to take Naruto and Sakura and find a safe spot to lay low until the fighting stops. Leave everything to the chunin and jonin."

He opened his mouth to protest, but I gave him my "do as I say" look, and he sighed, but did as he was told.

I turned to the sand siblings.

"Now, as for you three..." the puppet ninja and the wind mistress took a battle stance. "Stand down, I'm going to fix up your brother and escort you guys to the boarder of the land of fire and the land of wind."

"What?" they asked in unison.

"Move aside so I can tend to Gaara's wounds."

The exchanged glances before parting so I could help their brother.

Gaara groaned softly as I started to heal him.

"You're...Uchiha Kaede, right?" he asked.

"Yep. Looks like you and Naruto did a number on each other."

"Why are you helping me? I nearly killed your brother and Naruto."

"First of all, both of them are my brothers. Naruto may not share my blood, but I have considered him my brother for a long time now. Secondly, you remind me of both of them. You are a jinchuriki like Naruto and have so much hatred in you like Sasuke...If I abandoned you, it would be like I abandoned them. Had I not brought Naruto into my home when I did, he might have ended up just like you are now: full of hatred for the world and everyone in it. But has learned to love and be loved. That's all you need to heal yourself, Gaara: Love."

He looked shocked, and I swear I saw a tear flow down his cheek.

He was quiet for a moment. I looked into his eyes. They were different from before. Instead of hate and bloodlust, I saw remorse and pain.

"You said you could help me with Shukaku...how?"

"I know a thing or two about seals. The seal on Ichibi is not very strong and allows him to influence your thoughts. I can change that, and you'll be able to have full control over your body and mind. Just like Naruto does. Do you want me to fix the seal?"

He nodded.

"Then let's get you fixed up and that damn tanuki sealed up."

* * *

When I was done with his wounds and his seal, the redheaded jinchuriki was fast asleep. There was a slight smile on his face. He looked so peaceful, I couldn't help but kiss his forehead.

"Alright, let's get you three home. I can take you as far as the boarder, but after that I've got to get home myself."

The older sand siblings nodded. It was nearly nightfall when we reached the boarder. Gaara was still asleep, resting on his brother's shoulder.

"Thank you for what you've done for Gaara," the girl said. "He's never slept in his life, fearing that the shukaku would take over. I've never seen him look so peaceful."

I waved off her thanks. "It was nothing really. It was the right thing to do. You three take care of each other, and I hope we can meet in the future on better terms."

They nodded before rushing off into the desert.

I headed back to my own village, not knowing what awaited me when I returned.


	13. Chapter 13

I hated funerals. I hated saying goodbye. Sandaime-sama's funeral was no exception. Even the sky cried for the fallen shinobi of Konoha. All those faces I'd passed by all these years, now gone. Sarutobi-sama had helped me through my clan's demise. He'd been there for me when Obito died, when Rin died, when Minato-sama and Kushina-ba-sama died, when my team died, and through so many other deaths. Why did my loved ones have to die?

Everyone was hard at work rebuilding the village. My boys on the other hand were busy training. Sasuke had been on edge lately. During the battle with Gaara, he hadn't been able to do much due to the curse mark left by Orochimaru. I couldn't help but worry about my youngest brother.

I heard from Kakashi that the body of the real Kazekage had been discovered on the outskirts of Suna. He'd been dead since before the chunin exams. As a result, Suna had surrendered to Konoha, preventing the war between our villages.

"You look stressed, Kid," a voice from behind said.

I'd been looking over the village from atop the Hokage tower.

"Jiraiya-sama! You're back! Welcome home!"

I gave the older man a hug.

"Wow! I haven't seen you in a while, Kaede. You've sure grown into quite the beauty! So has some lucky fella swept you off your feet yet?"

"That would be me, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said as he approached us.

"Oh, so it's you two that ended up together. How about that? I heard from Naruto that you were dating a pervert, Kaede, but I didn't think it was Kakashi."

Kakashi's face-or what was visible of it-was priceless.

Then it clicked.

"You're the one who was training Naruto!"

He smiled. "What can I say, the kid grew on me."

"And being the son of your student has nothing to do with it, I suppose."

The toad sage's smile grew sad. "He looks just like him...but he's got his mother's personality."

"He does, doesn't he..."

Kakashi and I missed our teachers and our comrades dearly. Jiraiya-sama had lost his team too. One team mate was off the grid, the other was an s-ranked criminal, and now his sensei was dead. The three of us stood in mournful silence for a moment.

"Kakashi, Kaede..." Jiraiya-sama started. "I want you two to turn over Naruto's training to me. You two focus on Sasuke. It's up to you guys to teach him about his sharingan. I learned about an organization while I was tracking Orochimaru. They call themselves 'Akatsuki'. Every member is an S-ranked criminal. Including your brother, Uchiha Itachi."

I looked at the ground. Yes, I knew full well that Itachi had joined the Akatsuki. I was there when the offer to join was extended.

"What is it these Akatsuki guys are after?" Kakashi asked, putting an arm around my shoulder for comfort and support.

"They started out as mercenaries, but it seems they've taken to acquiring new jutsu and powers. In particular, it seems like they've got their eyes on bijuu."

"In other words...they're after Naruto," Kakashi concluded.

"I'm going after Tsunade so she can become the Godaime Hokage. I'm taking Naruto with me to keep an eye on him and train him."

"I'm going with you." I insisted.

"Kaede..." Kakashi said cautiously.

"I'm not a piece of glass, Kakashi! I know my condition, but I haven't made it this far in life for nothing. I'll be careful. Besides, with Jiraiya-sama with me, I'm sure no harm will come to me. I need to find Tsunade-sama. She was Tomoyo-sensei's teacher. With her help, I could finish learning what my sensei was trying to teach me before he died. Also, if it's Itachi that's after Naruto...I need to be the one to stop my younger brother and, most importantly, keep him away from Naruto and Sasuke. After that night...there's no telling what either one of them could do if they came face to face with my brother."

Kakashi hugged me. "Just be careful...I don't want you to get hurt...either of you."

"We'll be fine...trust me."

 **an: sorry this is a shorter chapter, but the last one was really long so I don't feel guilty about this XP hope you enjoyed it. Remember: reviews make a happy To'M'L 3**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews guys! That really boosted my spirit!**

 **Replies to those who reviewed:**

 **Guest: He'll be pissed alright, but not for the reasons you think. He won't find out for a little bit. Until the Shippuden timeline, he'll only be in flashbacks :( but I can't wait to write him into the story!**

 **theunlovingdead: Glad you like her and the story :)**

 **Helen delia: You'll find out this chapter ;)**

 **random girlz: You, also, will find out this chapter ;)**

 **Now, without further ado, the reunion of the Uchiha siblings!**

* * *

Jiraiya-sama and I walked towards Ichiraku Ramen together to find Naruto.

"So why is Kakashi being so protective of you? I know you two are a couple, but I've seen you fight, Kaede, and you're no joke."

"Don't worry about it, Jiraiya-sama," I said with a soft smile on my face as my hands settled over my stomach. "I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Even if I'm not able to use my full strength right now, I know you and Naruto won't let anything happen to me."

Jiraiya-sama looked at me with a smile.

We had reached the Ramen bar.

"You weren't joking, Kaede, he does eat ramen all the time." Jiraiya-sama said with a chuckle.

"Ero-senin!" Naruto exclaimed with a mouth full of ramen.

"'Ero-senin?'" I asked with a chuckle.

"I really wish you wouldn't call me that..." Jiraiya-sama said glumly.

I laughed merrily.

"Kaede-nee-chan? Do you and Ero-senin know each other?"

"A little. You see, my jonin sensei was on the same genin team as Jiraiya-sama. Since Tsunade-sama wasn't around much after Tomoyo-sensei died, Jiraiya-sama looked after me and my training. Of course, my style is much different from Jiraiya-sama's, but he did help me master one jutsu in particular that I'm very fond of."

Naruto finished his meal and thanked the chef before following Jiraiya-sama and myself out onto the streets of Konoha. Jiraiya-sama told him that we were going to leave the village in search of a very special woman.

"What? Why do I have to go on a research trip with you, Ero-senin? You shouldn't go either, Nee-chan. He might peep on you."

"I would never!" Jiraiya-sama insisted. "Besides that, this isn't just some normal research trip. There's a special woman I have some questions for."

Naruto gave him a confused, skeptical look.

"I have no time to waste on your perverted stuff. And there's no way I'm letting you take Kaede-nee-chan on one of these research trips."

"You know I can make up my own mind, Naruto," I said. "I trust Jiraiya-sama with my life. This is a very important trip."

"But I have to train!" Naruto insisted. "I'm going to make Kakashi-sensei teach me something like chidori!"

"Chidori's not really your type of move," Jiraiya-sama said.

"You need sharingan for it to be truly effective."

"More importantly, the woman I'm talking about is really hot. You want to see her, right?"

"No way!" Naruto insisted. "I'm not a kid who can easily be convinced by a perv like you."

"Looks like I have no other choice then...What a shame...I know a jutsu that's way more powerful then chidori...Kaede here said for sure you'd want to learn it...I'll just have to ask Sasuke."

"I changed my mind! I'll go!" Naruto shouted. He grabbed my hand and dragged me back home. "Come on, Kaede-nee-chan! We have to pack!"

At home, I heard Sasuke in the basement.

"Sasuke! Naruto and I are going on a little trip with Jiraiya-sama! Be good for Kakashi, ok? He's in charge!"

He didn't respond, but I knew he heard me.

After my bag was packed, I went to check on Naruto. He was stuffing pretty much everything he owned into his bag.

"You know you have to carry that, right?"

"I know!"

"I'm not carrying that for you, and neither is Jiraiya-sama. So pack lighter. We're not going to be gone so long that you need to pack everything you own."

After Naruto "packed lighter" we met Jiraiya-sama at the gate. He looked at Naruto with amusement in his eyes.

"You should have seen his bag before I made him pack lighter..."

"So what kind of technique are you going to teach me this time, Ero-senin?" Naruto asked as we started walking. "You taught me the water walk jutsu last time. Teach me the next one! Come one, Ero-senin!"

I sighed heavily. I loved the kid, but he was getting over excited and I could tell it was annoying Jiraiya-sama.

"'Ero-senin, Ero-senin...' You really don't know how great I am, do you?"

"What? A great pervert?"

That struck a nerve with the great toad sage.

Jiraiya-sama struck a pose on the bridge we had come across.

"The title 'Toad Sage' is merely a disguise! I shall tell you my true identity! I am one of the Sannin! The great Jiraiya!"

Naruto didn't look impressed and just kept walking over the bridge.

"Hey, Hey Ero-senin!"

"I told you kid, it's Jiraiya..."

"You better get used to it, Jiraiya-sama..." I said. "Once Naruto sets his mind to something, nothing can change it."

"Since a great Ero-senin like you chose me to be your companion, that means I must have great talent within me, right?"

I smiled. I knew the reason why Jiraiya-sama had chosen Naruto was because of who his parents were.

"The Yondaime Hokage was once my apprentince."

Was he seriously going to tell him?

"And you're very similar to the Yondaime. That's the only reason."

Internally, I sighed with relief. I wanted to tell Naruto who his parents were, but now wasn't the time. He was still too young.

"I'm...like the Yondaime..." Naruto said softly.

I smiled at the young blond.

Naruto gave a victorious cry before running forward.

"If I'm similar to the Fourth, that means I have the same talent as him, right?!"

Naruto and Jiraiya-sama continued being goof balls for a while until we reached the next town.

We came to an inn within the city and Jiraiya-sama said we'd stay there for the night.

"Eh? I can still walk!" Naruto insisted.

"Naruto, be good and listen to your master."

"But Nee-chan!"

Just then a beautiful woman walked by and winked at Jiraiya-sama, causing Naruto and the Toad Sage to start drooling.

"Idiots...Come on Naruto. Let's go upstairs. I think Jiraiya-sama has someone he wants to go meet."

"But Nee-chan!"

"We can work on your chakra control. I'm sure it will be essential for this new Jutsu that Jiraiya-sama wants to teach you."

I went up to our room, followed by a still reluctant Naruto who was mumbling about his master being a pervert.

We went up to our room where I instructed Naruto on how to mold his chakra more effectively. While he worked on that, I sat in quite meditation. Unfortunately, I drifted into some long suppressed memories.

* * *

 _I ran through the forests on the outskirts of the village._ He _was here again. The masked man that attacked the village. The one that had a chakra similar to Obito's. This is my chance to finally figure out who he was. They were conversing._

 _"You slipped through extra tight Leaf security and went to examine Nakano Shrine's secret stone tablet. Only the Uchiha know its location. Since then, I've kept an eye on your movements, and looked into what kind of character you are and what your ideology is."_

 _"Well then, that saves me time."_

 _"You already know that I bear hatred towards both Konoha and my own clan..."_

 _He's one of us? Is he...?_

 _"I have terms...I will help yiou exact revenge upon the Uchiha clan."_

 _My eyes went wide. What was going on? Why would my younger brother hurt the clan? Why? What was going on?_

 _Fearing my safety, I fled. I'm not sure if my presence was sensed, but I was not followed._

 _I sat in my room and contemplated what to do. Kakashi was on a mission. Mother and Father wouldn't believe me. This didn't make sense. Why would Itachi betray our clan?_

 _I heard footsteps across the hall...in Itachi's room._

 _I entered his room without knocking. He was fastening his ANBU gear._

 _"Going on a mission?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Have a minute to spare on your big sister?"_

 _He paused for a moment, thinking, but nodded. we sat on the bed next to each other._

 _"You've grown up Itachi. You're not a little kid anymore. You've seen so much in your life. You're only 14, but you're an ANBU captain. You're the pride of the clan. But you've just lost your best friend. What's worse, you've been accused by your own clansmen of taking that friend's life."_

 _"What are you getting at, Kaede-nee?"_

 _"I know things are hard right now, but that's no reason to betray the clan!"_

 _Tears were flowing down my cheeks now._

 _"Kaede-nee...so that_ was _you back there..."_

 _"Why would you do this, Itachi? Who is that man?"_

 _"Uchiha Madara."_

 _"Uchiha...Madara?"_

 _So it wasn't Obito after all..._

 _"As for your other question...I'm preventing a war."_

 _"A war?"_

 _"Father has kept you, Naruto, and Sasuke out of this, but he's been planning a coup against Konoha."_

 _"A coup? But why?"_

 _"He doesn't like the way that we've been treated since the Kyuubi attack. Father plans to rise up against the village. But once a civil war breaks out, it won't be long before full war breaks out and another village tries to take advantage of the chaos. I'm trying to protect the village I love, and my siblings. If I don't do this, then Danzo-sama will have his ANBU do it for me...and you and Sasuke will not be spared."_

 _"Danzo...that bastard...This shouldn't be your burden to bare alone, Itachi...Let me help you!"_

 _"Can you really do it? Can you betray your clan?"_

 _"If it means protecting my brothers, I can do anything."_

 _Itachi thought for a moment. "Fine. Madara is helping with this, so you must have a valid excuse for why you would do this."_

 _I thought back to the treatment of Obito by the clan...that could work._

 _I got my mission gear on and prepared for what was to come. Itachi said that Naruto and Sasuke were not to be harmed by Madara. He'd used the excuse that Sasuke wasn't worth killing, while Naruto wasn't part of this and shouldn't get involved._

 _We met Madara in the clearing._

 _"Itachi...I remember you said you didn't want your sister killed, but I don't recall you saying she would be involved in this."_

 _"I bare hatred for this clan just like you do, Madara-sama. This clan never respected the man I loved. I will have revenge for him."_

 _"Oh? And who was this man?"_

 _"Uchiha Obito."_

 _Madara paused for a moment, then nodded. "Very well. Are you prepared for what you are to do?"_

 _"I can do anything." I said and activated my mangekyo sharingan._

 _"I see you have the mangekyo."_

 _"Yes. My genin team was slaughtered protecting me. I have not had much practice with them, but I do have them."_

 _He nodded in understanding._

 _"Well then, let us begin."_

 _What I did that night, can't be erased. I would see it every night in my nightmares for years to come. I killed countless people...my own family..._

 _I came into my family's living room just after Itachi had killed our parents. He was crying. I hugged my younger brother and kissed his cheek._

 _"Naruto and Sasuke are coming...I can sense their chakra. They're already inside the compound."_

 _"Then there isn't much time. There's one last thing I have to do."_

 _"What's that, Itachi? Everyone else is already dead. What else is there to do?"_

 _"This."_

 _Before I could react, Itachi had thrust his katana into my chest, just as Sasuke and Naruto entered the room._

 _"I...ta...chi...why?"_ _He had purposely avoided hitting anything that would kill me. He just wanted to wound me. Make it seem like he had tried to kill me._

 _He used his mangekyo sharingan on me._

 _Inside the dreamscape, he spoke to me._

 _"This is my burden to bare, Kaede-nee. I am undertaking a secret mission after this to spy on Madara. You need to be here for Naruto and Sasuke."_

 _"Why didn't you tell me, Itachi?"_

 _"Because you would have tried to come with me. You're a good big sister, Kaede-nee, but now Sasuke and Naruto need you more than I do. Please, protect them for me. Keep them strong. And one day, help Sasuke take my life in revenge for the clan. That is the only way I can atone for my sins."_

 _"Sins? You protected the village? And I helped you?! You don't have to do this alone, Itachi!"_

 _"Yes, I do. I failed to prevent this from happening. It was my duty to the clan and the village to end things peacefully. To protect Shisui! And I couldn't. If I had been more diligent...I could have protected Shisui from Danzo-sama..."_

 _"What happened to Shisui, Itachi?"_

 _"Danzo-sama stole his eye because he didn't trust him. Shisui gave the other eye to me before falling into the river. I couldn't protect him, Nee-chan! Or this clan! But I can protect you and our brothers!"_

 _When I awoke again, I was in the hospital. My chest was bandaged. And Itachi was gone._

* * *

A knock at the door broke my meditation, pulling me from the memories of the past. Thank goodness.

I opened the door and was met with a pair of eyes that matched my own.

"I...ta...chi..."

Naruto rushed in front of me, determined to protect me.

"What are you doing here, traitor!" he shouted.

Itachi caught me in his mangekyo sharingan and sent us into the Tsukuyomi dreamscape.

 _"You know, this is really bad for your eyes..." I said._

 _"Do not lecture me, Kaede-nee..."_

 _I smiled and hugged my brother._

 _"It's good to see you, Otouto. Are you taking care of yourself? Are you eating enough? Madara isn't giving you trouble, is he?"_

 _"I'm fine, Nee-chan."_

 _"Then why are you here?"_

 _"I'm here to remind Danzo-sama and the elders that I'm still alive, and if anything happens to you or our brothers, that there will be hell to pay."_

 _"So...word about Sandaime-sama's death has reached even you, huh..."_

 _"Yes. But I also come with a warning for you. The group Madara is running from the shadows, the Akatsuki...they're after the bijuu...after Naruto..."_

 _"So I've heard. Jiraiya-sama brought back similar intel."_

 _"You must do your best to protect Naruto from the growing threat against him."_

 _"If he'll let me...lately the boy's been trying to protect me."_

 _"Why's that?"_

 _"I'm pregnant."_

 **AN: And there you have it. It's official. Kaede and Kakashi are having a kid. She's met "the masked man". And she helped kill her clan. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews make me happy :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews! They really make my day :) To those of you who are worried for Kaede and Kakashi's baby's safety-just let me write the story ok. I have plans for the child in the plot. Just remember that there is war in their future. War brings a lot of pain. This story is called "Regrets and Goodbyes" for a reason.**

 **On another note, I've started a new fan fiction. It's based off of my roommate-AlloraStar217-'s transformers fan fiction called "Is this Reality". Both use the concepts of a virtual reality game. Go check out Allora's if you're into transformers or virtual reality or both. Mine is called "Naruto Destiny". It's about a girl named Ashlee who beta tests the world's first virtual reality game "Naruto Destiny". The game takes place in an infinite Tsukuyomi dream and players have to fight their way out of the dream in order to win. I'd really appreciate if someone of you checked it out.**

 **Oh, I also want to clarify something. I forgot to add a couple of words when I explained Kaede and Jiraiya's relationship. Kaede's sensei, Tomoyo, was a student of Tsunade. Tomoyo was NOT on a team with Tsunade and Jiraiya. Jiraiya took to watching after Kaede's training after Tomoyo's death because he was Tsunade's teammate.**

 **Anyway, this chapter will be written from Naruto's point of view. Speaking of Naruto, any one have any ideas for his pairing for this story? It probably won't happen until Shippuden, but that's not too far off.**

* * *

Damn that Ero-senin! Sending Nee-chan and I up to the hotel room so he can go hit on some pretty lady! Who does he think he is?

Kaede-nee-chan had taught me how to mold my chakra more effectively and was now meditating, but not peacefully. Her brow was tense. She was biting her lip. I could see sweat starting to drip down her face. She was sitting completely still, but her body was shaking. Was she thinking about "that night"? Nee-chan had told me only a little about her past traumas, but I knew they were numerous. She'd grown up in war, she'd seen her friends die, she'd been there on "that night" and fought against Itachi...

Itachi...I'd once looked up to the middle Uchiha child, but after what he did...

I sighed.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Was it Ero-senin? Did that girl dump him already?

Kaede-nee-chan was pulled from her meditation by the knocking. She looked grateful to be pulled from whatever painful memories had haunted her. She got up off of her bed and went to the door.

"I...ta...chi..."

The name had barely escaped her lips, but it was enough to send me into high alert. I grabbed a kunai and jumped in front of Kaede-nee. There was no way I was going to let Itachi hurt my Nee-chan or her baby!

"What are you doing here, traitor?!" I demanded, my voice dripping with venom.

Itachi said nothing, he did nothing, but Kaede-nee-chan still dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

"Nee-chan?! What did you do to her?!"

"Naruto...you're coming with us." Itachi said, his voice void of emotion.

There was a huge blue man with a giant sword on his back standing behind the Uchiha. He had gills and cold eyes. Both of them wore black cloaks with red clouds. Their forehead protectors had a slash through the middle of them.

"Why don't we step outside," Itachi said.

I looked between him and Kaede-nee-chan, who was still trying to catch her breath. Would he hurt her if I didn't obey?

Deciding not to risk it, I stepped out into the hall.

"I...ta...chi...don't...hurt...him..." Kaede-nee-chan managed to say. Although she was collapsed on the ground and struggling to breath properly, her voice was full of anger, and the unspoken threat was made clear to her younger brother.

"Hmmm..." the blue shark-man mused. "Itachi-san, it'd be a pain if he tried to get away. Perhaps we should cut off a leg or two."

"You...touch...him...and...I! Will! End! You! Sakana no teme*" (Sakana means fish and teme means bastard) Kaede-nee-chan's voice was scary, but the threat was minimalized by her weakened state and the shark-man simply chuckled.

"Oh you've got spunk! Itachi-san, can we keep her?"

"I would appreciate it, Kisame-san, if you didn't stare so lecherously at my older sister."

"Older sister, eh? The way I heard it, the whole Uchiha clan was wiped out...by you. But now that I take a closer look, she does look a lot like you...How very interesting."

There was a tense moment of silence, interrupted only by Nee-chan's heavy breathing. Just what did these guys want with me?

"It's been a long time," Itachi said to no one in particular. Was this guy crazy? Who was he talking to?

Then I saw Sasuke down the hall, behind Itachi. Did he have eyes in the back of his head or something?

"Uchiha Itachi...get away from the dobe and my sister!"

Sasuke's voice was full of venom like I'd never heard before, his eyes full of hate. He looked ready to kill.

"The sharingan...and he looks an awful lot like you and Girly," the fish-man said. "Just who is this guy?"

"My otouto," Itachi said plainly.

"Shut up!" I declared. "You don't get to call him that after what you did! You're a monster! You don't deserve to call yourself Sasuke's aniki!"

"What an interesting day it's turned out to be," the shark-man said. "All three remaining Uchihas coming together..."

"Uchiha Itachi..." Sasuke growled. "I'm going to kill you!"

Sasuke's declaration reminded me of "that night".

* * *

 _The day had started out like any other in the Uchiha clan compound. Sasuke and I were getting ready for school._

 _As we ran into the front room, a glimpse of raven hair caught my eye. Itachi was sitting at the front door, putting his shoes on. Itachi-nii-san...I'd idealized the older male for as long as I'd known him. He was the star of not only the Uchiha clan, but the entire village. He was about six years older than Sasuke and me-our seven, almost eight, to his fourteen-and he was already a captain in the ANBU. He'd awaken his chunin a few years ago when he was 10, had awaken his sharingan two years before that at 8, and become a genin at our age. I was very proud that he was my older brother, but he never had time for Sasuke or me. He was always training or on missions._

 _Sasuke came up from behind me and smiled, seeing who I was staring at._

 _"Nii-san!" Sasuke called. Itachi looked up at up and gave a small smile. "Will you help us with shuriken today after school?"_

 _"I'm busy," Itachi replied. "Ask father."_

 _"Awwww!" I whined. "But you're better at it, Itachi-nii-san! Even I can see that. Fugaku-oji-san says so too."_

 _"Why do you always treat us like we're nuisances?" Sasuke asked, pouting._

 _Itachi motioned to come closer. Sasuke jumped at the opportunity, but Itachi just poked him in the forehead._

 _"Forgive me, Sasuke, maybe another time."_

 _Sasuke looked annoyed. Itachi, however, had a sad look in his eyes. Sasuke didn't seem to notice though._

 _Sasuke rubbed his forehead. "You always say 'Forgive me, Sasuke' and poke me in the forehead. But you never help me out, and not just today."_

 _Itachi said nothing as he walked out the door. Sasuke smiled after our brother before running into the kitchen to find breakfast._

 _Something about Itachi seemed off though. Instead of following Sasuke, I slipped my shoes on and followed after Itachi._

 _"Itachi-nii-san! Wait!" I called._

 _"Naruto? What are you doing? You should be inside eating breakfast."_

 _"Itachi-nii-san, is something bothering you?"_

 _"Whatever do you mean?"_

 _"You had a sad look in your eyes back there. I know we just lost Shisui-nii and you got blamed, and I know that's a lot to handle, but is there anything else bothering you? You seemed more distressed than usual."_

 _Itachi smiled gently at me._

 _"You may not be the smartest in school, Naruto, but you really are perceptive when it comes to what people are feeling. Even I can't hide my feelings from you it seems. But my feelings are burden to bare, not yours. I do not wish to ruin your day with my sadness."_

 _I wrapped my brother in a big hug. "I know I'm just a kid, Itachi-nii-san, but I want to be here for you, just like Kaede-nee-chan is for me. That's what a family does, right?"_

 _Itachi ruffled my hair affectionately. "Yeah, that's right."_

 _Itachi said goodbye and headed off for the day, and I returned home to breakfast._

 _When I returned, Mikoto-oba-san was washing dishes, Kaede-nee-chan was working on lunches, and Fugaku-oji-san was sipping his tea at the table. I took my seat next to Sasuke._

 _"Oh there you are, Naruto. What took you so long?" Kaede-nee-chan asked._

 _"I went to talk to Itachi-nii-san for a minute. He looks so sad today...Nee-chan, do you know why?"_

 _Kaede-nee-chan looked down. "He's probably still in mourning over Shisui...They were best friends...To not only lose your best friend, but to be blamed for his death...it truly is a tragic thing..."_

 _"Boys," Oji-san said, "Your brother's always been a bit different. He doesn't like to interact with people very much."_

 _"How come?" Sasuke asked._

 _"I don't know. I can't even understand him, and I'm the boy's father..."_

 _Kaede turned around with a smile I knew was fake and two bentos._

 _"Alright boys! Here are your lunches! Do your best today, Ok! When you get home, we can work on shiruken training together!"_

 _Sasuke and I said our goodbyes for the day. We talked to an old lady from the clan briefly about Itachi. I could tell Sasuke was feeling compared to Itachi...I felt completely unacknowledged. While Itachi, Kaede, Fugaku, and Mikoto treated me no differently than they would if I had been born into the family, the rest of the clan always treated me as if I were an outsider, even though I had been raised in this clan. I may not be able to use sharingan, but I was still part of the Uchiha clan!_

 _Sasuke and I stayed late after school that day. He wanted to practice his shuriken._

 _"Ne...Sasuke...we could have just gone home and asked Kaede-nee-chan to help us...Why did we have to stay out so late? It's dark out already."_

 _"I know...But I didn't want to bother Nee-chan...She works so hard..."_

 _"True...Come on! We should hurry and get home. Oba-san and Oji-san will be worried."_

 _Sasuke nodded and we hurried back to the Uchiha clan compound._

 _It was way too dark when we got back to the compound. All of the lights were out, but it was too early for everyone to be in bed. We weren't that late...were we?_

 _"This is creepy..." I said._

 _Sasuke nodded in agreement._

 _That's when we saw the bodies. Everywhere we looked, we saw the bodies of our slain clan._

 _"Who could have done something like this?" I asked, scared._

 _"Oh no! What about Kaa-san, Tou-san, Nee-chan, and Nii-san?"_

 _I didn't take time to answer him, I ran straight to our home, Sasuke right on my tail. There were no lights on in our home, just like all the others. I prayed silently to any god that would listen that the darkness in our home meant that our family hadn't been home when the rest of our clan was killed._

 _There was a thud in the living room. Sasuke and I quickly followed the sound, but we were not prepared for what we would see. Itachi was standing over the bodies of Fugaku, Mikoto, and Kaede. Kaede was still breathing, but just barely._

 _"Nii-san! Who did this? Why did this happen?" Sasuke wailed._

 _Then a shuriken was thrown at Sasuke, slicing his shoulder. It had been thrown by Itachi._

 _I stepped in front of Sasuke protectively._

 _"Uchiha Itachi!" my voice was filled with anger, hatred, and sorrow. "Why did you do this?! You butchered every single member of our clan! You traitor!"_

 _Sasuke let out a scream as he fell to the ground._

 _"Itachi! Why are you showing me this? Make it stop! Make it stop!"_

 _"Sasuke!" I cried out as I knelt beside him. I turned to give Itachi a dark glare, full of all my pain. "What did you do to him?"_

 _"That is none of your concern, Naruto. You are not part of this clan. This is a matter only for those of the Uchiha blood. You're just a nuisance."_

 _Before I realized what was happening, he rushed towards me and delivered a precise blow to the back of my neck, knocking me out._

 _I woke up in the hospital. Everyone was talking about how the Uchiha clan had fallen , how Sasuke and Kaede were the only ones left._

 _Why Itachi? Why did you do this? You were my idol for so long...why did you do this? How could you betray us like this?_

* * *

 **AN: There you have it, Naruto's point of view on "That Night". Seriously though, what do you guys think of for a Naruto pairing? I'd prefer to do an ItachiXNaruto pairing, but I'm open to doing others.**

 **Pairings I'd be willing to do:**

 **Naruto X Hinata**

 **Not only is this cannon, but I find it downright adorable. Hinata's love for Naruto is so pure and true.**

 **Naruto X Sasuke**

 **I'm convinced that Naruto was in love with Sasuke for at least part of his life. His friendship with Sasuke is so deep and complicated that I think it makes a good romance as well.**

 **Naruto X Gaara**

 **Not only did Naruto literally save Gaara's life, but he also changed his life. Just like I'm convinced Naruto is in love with Sasuke, I think Gaara is in love with Naruto.**

 **Naruto X Itachi**

 **This is one of my favorite pairings for Naruto. Itachi has this dark, mysterious thing going on, and their love would be forbidden for a multitude of reasons. Especially in this story, I feel like he and Naruto have this deep connection and understanding between the two of them. Regardless of who Naruto gets paired with, we'll see more on his relationship with Itachi later.**

 **I'm not really into Naruto X Sakura. She not only ignored him for far to long, she was downright mean to him for a while. Sure, she grows up eventually, but I'd personally rather see her with Sasuke or Ino. I feel like she has more history with Ino and more chemistry with Sasuke.**

 **Some of you have complained that there hasn't been too much of Obito yet. Understandable. We'll get into more of Obito very soon. Kaede's going to be on bed rest for a little bit here-just a precaution that's being taken since she was under the Tsukuyomi for a little bit-so the Tsunade arch and the Sasuke Retrieval arch are going to be written from the side lines. Then it's a little bit of what happens between part one and shippuden, then it's off to the Kazekage rescue arch and there's a lot more Obito after that.**

 **Thanks for being awesome readers :) Review to let me know what you think**


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: This is a flash back scene in honor of Obito's birthday (today: 2/10). I'm so grateful for all of the reviews I got on the last chapter. I've decided on a pairing for Naruto now. I won't tell just yet though ;) I think you'll all be pleased with how Naruto's love life ends up though. I have thought of a few ways for this story to end (not that we'll be getting there anytime soon) and Naruto's love life may or may not have a happier ending than Kaede's. Kaede's love life has a lot of struggle, which is always going to happen when the person you love is still hung up on someone else, just like Obito is with Rin.**

 **This little flash back is about Obito's birthday. Specifically, it's the first time Obito's birthday comes around after his "death". So we get to see a little more into how Kaede deals with h** **er loss and grief.**

 **Some of you have asked if I've seen Inuyasha. Yep, that's where I first heard Kaede's name. I've also seen it on Japanese name sites, where I found out it means "Maple" and I thought that was pretty. So I picked it. Also, it's unisex and I like unisex names.**

 **Anyway, on to the story**

* * *

Kaede walked through the village. The young teenager was bundled up in a black coat, the Uchiha crest embroidered into the back, and a red scarf. Her long black hair was up in a high pony tail. Under her coat, she wore a black long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black slacks, which were tucked into her grey knee high boots. Her black attire stood out against the pure white snow that had blanketed Konoha. Just like her attire stood out, she felt like she herself stood out. All around her, people where cheerful. The war had ended. Minato-sensei was Hokage. Things were good in the hidden leaf village. None of that brought any warmth to Kaede's bitter cold heart. Not today. Some of her comrades and family members had tried to cheer her up, but she didn't want to be cheered up. What she wanted was to have _him_ back. She wanted Obito.

"Kaede-nee!"

Kaede turned at the sound of her younger brother's voice and the crunching of snow under small footsteps. Itachi and Shisui were chasing after her as she was leaving the compound.

"Nee-chan, where are you going?" Shisui asked.

"I'm going to the Yamanaka flower shop," Kaede said. She tried to put on the most pleasant face she could muster for her little brother and his friend, but they weren't buying it.

"I know what today is, Kaede-nee," Itachi said. "You don't have to put on a brave face in front of us." Itachi wrapped his small arms around his older sister. "I'm here for you, Kaede-nee. That's what brother's are for."

"Yeah, me too! We're here for you, Nee-chan!"

Shisui wrapped her in a hug too.

Unable to contain herself anymore, Kaede broke down in a sob. She knelt in the snow and held the two young boys close to her, squeezing them as if they would disappear if she let go.

"Kaede-nee...I...can't...breath..."

Kaede released Itachi and Shisui from her grasp.

"Gomen, Itachi...Shisui...What do you two say...do you want to come with me to the flower shop?"

The two boys nodded. She took their hands and continued walking from the compound.

Inoichi and his pregnant wife were sitting in the shop. There were few people in the shop other than the Yamanakas, just a few people browsing here or there.

"Kaede-chan," Inoichi's wife greeted her. "Oh, and little Itachi and little Shisui too! What can I do for you?"

"I'm getting some flowers for Obito...Today would have been his birthday..."

The pregnant woman gave Kaede a sad smile, but nodded. "I have the perfect flowers for him."

She went into the back room and returned with two write roses wrapped in a red ribbon. The stems were wrapped around each other, as if they were hugging.

 **AN: I had more to this chapter, but I lost it when my internet shut down...it was too heart breaking to rewrite...basically what happened was Kaede brought the flowers to Obito's grave, she tells him that she loves him, breaks down, gets angry about him dying and leaving her essentially, then Kakashi shows up and tells her that she's scaring Itachi and Shisui who have been watching the whole time and saw Kaede freak out, then he buys them dango.**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Hey guys! This is another special chapter. This time, it's in honor of Valentine's Day. This is a look back into Obito and Kaede's past before Obito "died". It's about a Valentine's Day back when they were both still genin (around 9 or 10 years old) Thought you'd like a little bit of Obito and Kaede interaction since we won't be seeing that for several chapters. Anyway, happy Valentine's Day. You are loved. Enjoy!**

Uchiha Kaede's heart was fluttering violently in her chest. For months now, this had been happening every time Uchiha Obito walked by. Her heart would race. Her cheeks turn bright red. She would stop thinking about whatever it was she was doing and focus entirely on Obito. She'd fallen hard for the Uchiha.

She could recall the day she'd realized her feelings for her friend. They'd been walking with him through the clan compound on their way to the training grounds when they'd come across and old lady struggling with her groceries. Obito had insisted on helping her, so the pair brought the bags back to her home for her. Afterwards, the old woman had invited them inside for tea and cookies, which the two young ninjas gladly accepted and thanked her for. "It's my pleasure," the old woman had said. "It warms my heart to see a young couple like you." Obito and Kaede had gently assured the woman that they were just friends. "That's too bad; you'd make such a cute couple."

That's when Kaede started to think about her friend differently. She looked at him and noticed things she hadn't before. She noticed the way his eyes shone whenever he helped others. She noticed how his smile made her heart flutter. She noticed the way his hair fell. She noticed so many small details about her friend that she got distracted when they were training and he knocked her over, landing on top of her. Her heart stopped beating for a moment. She blushed fiercely.

"Are you ok, Kaede?" Obito asked as he got off of her and offered her a hand.

Kaede knew she would only stammer if she spoke so she nodded instead.

"You look flushed. Do you have a fever?" Obito placed the back of his wrist on Kaede's forehead. "Yeah, you feel warm. Let's get you home."

Kaede could only nod dumbly as she followed her friend back home.

"Oh, Kaede, back so soon?" Mikoto asked as Obito lead her inside.

"I think she's got a fever, Mikoto-ba-san," Obito told her. "She was having trouble focusing while we were training and she's all red and warm."

"I see…" Mikoto said, looking at her daughter. "I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest. Thank you for bringing her home, Obito."

Obito nodded before waving goodbye.

Mikoto gave her daughter an amused look after Obito was gone.

"I'm not sick, Okaa-san." Kaede insisted.

"Oh, you're sick alright. Lovesick. I know that look Kaede. I've seen it on many girls before. You have feelings for Obito."

Kaede could only blush and look down at the floor in a feeble attempt to keep her mother from knowing her secret.

 **AN: and there you have it. That's how Kaede started having feelings for Obito. This was a VERY difficult chapter for me to write. Trying to get in the head of a preteen was difficult for me. At that age, I only had a crush on a guy if he was nice to me, not because I thought he was cute or something. So, hope you enjoyed seeing Obito, even if it is a younger Obito.**

 **Also, if you haven't done so already, please check out the other fic I've been working on: Naruto Destiny.**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Alright guys, sorry I haven't written a proper chapter in a while. This one will be a full length actual chapter, not a flashback or filler. This one's written from Kaede's perspective.**

I can't believe this. Stuck on bedrest. How pathetic! Itachi's Tsukuyomi had taken more out of me than I had first realized and my co workers at the hospital had insisted on keeping me on bedrest. How the hell did things end up like this?

After Jiraiya-sama had showed up and chased away Itachi and his fishy comrade, Gai had shown up. He carried me and Sasuke, who had also gotten a dose of our brother's Tsukuyomi-although his experience was worse than mine-all the way back to Konoha. Gai had told us that Kakashi was also hit by the genjutsu and was now unconscious in the hospital.

How could my sweet little brother cause so much damage? When had he become so strong? He had long ago surpassed me. He had brought down my lover, leaving him in a state of unconsciousness in the hospital. He had brought one of our brothers to the same state in addition to breaking his arm and some ribs. He had been careful not to hurt me, but merely being under his Tsukuyomi was almost too much for me to bare. I could barely stand and I was lucky to be conscious.

After a few weeks of incredible boredom, I get a visitor.

"Well if it isn't Tomoyo's brat student."

"Tsunade-sama!"

"How'd you get in here?"

"Oh you know, got beat up by my little brother…"

"I heard he put quite a few people in this hospital. I also heard you're pregnant. So let's make sure that little bun is alright. Tomoyo will never forgive me if I let something happen to one of his students, and I'm not about to piss off the dead."

I lean back on my pillows and allow the Sannin to examine me.

"Well, good news is your baby is fine. It's not quite far along enough to tell the sex yet, but it is healthy. You, however, are still in bad shape. I'll heal you, but I want you to take it easy until you give birth. No more missions. No long trips out of the village. In fact, just stay in the village."

"But Tsunade-sama!"

"No buts! That's an order from your Hokage!"

"Hokage…"

She was the new Hokage?

"That's right, brat. Now let's get you healed up then get your kid brother and your boyfriend taken care of."

Tsunade-sama's hands glowed green with the healing chakra and soon I was feeling good as new.

After I was healed, Tsunade-sama moved on to Kakashi. He was extremely groggy when he first woke up.

"Mmmm….Kaede….what's going on?"

"You got hit by Itachi's Tsukuyomi. Sasuke and I got hit too."

"What?!" Kakashi asked as he sat up quickly.

"Hey! Take easy!" Tsunade-sama said as she pushed him back down harshly.

"Kaede...is...is the…"

"The baby's fine, Kakashi." I said as I squeezed his hand.

He sighed heavily. "Thank goodness. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to either of you."

"She's not going on any missions for some time," Tsunade-sama said. "That's an order from the new Hokage."

"They've appointed a new Hokage?"

"Yep; you're looking at her."

"Tsunade-sama...you're…?"

"Yep. The Uzumaki brat and Jiraiya dragged me here and convinced me to be the next Hokage."

"He sure is an amazing kid," Kakashi said. "He has the incredible ability to make people believe in not just him, but themselves."

I smiled at my lover.

"He's truly is the child of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato," Tsunade-sama said proudly.

We share in a moment of silence, remembering the fallen Hokage and his wife.

"Alright, you stay here, Kakashi, and rest. Brat, let's go wake up you're brother."

* * *

Tsunade-sama became Hokage within a week of arriving in Konoha. Poor Konohamaru was having a tough time watching his grandfather's things being carried out of the office. One of Tsunade-sama's first decrees as Hokage was to name the Nara boy a chunin. The lazy brat wasn't overly thrilled. I heard Asuma gave him a big lecture on getting to be more responsible.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had yet to leave the hospital. He was exhausted and looked almost depressed. I'm not sure what he saw in the Tsukuyomi world-he wouldn't talk about it-but between what he saw and his encounter with Itachi, he wasn't doing well. He'd even tried to pick a fight with Naruto and tried to use his Chidori against him.

One night, not long after the fight between Naruto and Sasuke, I went to his room and sat at the foot of his bed. He was awake, but didn't acknowledge my presence.

"You know, Sasuke...revenge isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"What would you know about it?"

"You're too young to remember when Obito died. He was the only man I truly loved. Even Kakashi can't take his place. He was killed in battle during the 3rd great ninja war. Kakashi and their teammate, Rin, came back alive. Obito didn't. At first, I blamed Kakashi and Rin. Why did they get to come back, but not Obito. There was a time where I got so caught up in my emotions that I did a lot of stupid things. I've seen a lot of people die in my lifetime. I've fought in too many battles to count. Revenge, bloodshed, hatred, and war...they are not things to be taken lightly. You've seen the aftermath of our clan's slaughter, but you've never been in a true war. Yes, you've seen tragic, horrifying events-and I don't mean to minimize that at all-but true war and bloodshed are things that should be avoided at all cost."

"Are you saying I should just let Itachi live?! That I should let him get away with what he did?!"

"I'm saying you should try to find peace in what is. You don't have to like it, in fact you can hate what happened all you want, but finding peace in what is is the only way to bring peace to your soul and can give you a chance at true happiness. That's what Otou-san and Okaa-san would have wanted for you."

"Is that what you did, Onee-chan?"

"Yes. I've come to terms with the loss of our clan. I accept that Itachi must have been greatly disturbed to commit such an act. While I miss our family every day, and still think of them often, I am able to move on and find contentment in the life that has been given to me."

"Then you didn't love them like I did!"

"Sasuke!"

"I can never forgive Itachi for what he did!"

His words stung. What would he say if he found out that I had been apart of our clan's slaughter?

"I'm not saying to forgive him. I'm saying to give yourself the freedom to move on, to find joy in this life. It's ok to find joy and contentment in life."

"No it's not! Our family was slaughtered by our brother! They were stolen from us! I bet you wanted them to die! You didn't love them like I did! You're just as bad as Itachi! I hate you!"

With that Sasuke ran from the room. I moved to go after him, but thought he needed some space. Not only that, but I needed some time to process what he said. I had killed our family, without a second thought, to save our village, to save my brothers. Was I a monster? Did I not love them as much as Sasuke did?

I went back home where Kakashi and Naruto were waiting. Kakashi had been discharged from the hospital just the other day, while Sasuke had been kept on watch a few extra nights.

"How's Sasuke?" Naruto asked. "Is he feeling alright?"

"He's...upset. He thinks revenge against Itachi is the only thing he can do. I tried to talk him out of it...he didn't take it well."

Kakashi put an arm around me. "Try not to stress out too much, Kaede. It's not good for the baby. Let me handle Sasuke. I'll try talking to him in the morning. Let's let him cool down for now."

I usually didn't like him trying to take over in these situations, but for once I decided to accept his help with grace.

* * *

The next morning, we were shocked to find out that Sasuke had left the village, running off to join Orochimaru. Kakashi and I wanted to go after him, but Tsunade-sama forbid us from going after, insisting that we still needed to rest. Instead, she sent Naruto and some of his friends, lead by the Nara boy. All I could do was wait with Kakashi and Sakura for Naruto to come back, hopefully with Sasuke. After a few days of waiting, Kakashi went after our boys. He, along with the three sand siblings and Gai's student, Rock Lee (freshly recovered from surgery), came back with the team of five young ninja, but without Sasuke. Naruto, Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, and Choji were badly injured. Choji was the worst off. From what I had been told, there had been five sound ninja that battled with Naruto and his friends. Rock Lee and the sand siblings had aided in the battles while Naruto had gone to get Sasuke.

Once Kakashi and the others arrived back in Konoha, I went to meet them in the hospital. When I saw Naruto all bandaged up, I rushed to him and threw my arms around him.

"Are you ok? What happened? Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto looked down, tears flowing from his eyes.

"I couldn't stop him. I begged him to stay, I fought him, I...I told him I love him...He wouldn't stay. I couldn't protect him!"

I was taken back. "You...told him you love him?"

Naruto nodded. "I've always loved Sasuke. At first, I thought I loved him as a brother, but it's more than that...I really love him. And he tried to kill me! I told him I love him and he tried to kill me!"

I hugged Naruto tightly. "I'm so sorry, Naruto...Sasuke...he's a complicated person...I know he cares for you, but he's so caught up on avenging the clan…" I sighed. "I fear that he's so consumed by his lust for revenge that he forgets how to love. I know you love him, Naruto, but he may never be able to return your feelings, or those of anyone else."

This made Naruto cry more. I rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. Out the window, I saw a crow sitting on the window sill. One of it's eyes flashed red for a brief second.

Itachi… He's always watching over us.

Jiraiya-sama walks in and asks to talk to Naruto alone for a moment. I went back to the hallway where Kakashi, Rock Lee, and Gaara were waiting.

"How is Naruto?" Gaara asked.

"Physically, he'll live, but he's heartbroken."

"Naruto-kun confessed his love for Sasuke-kun," Lee told Gaara.

Gaara nodded. "Someone once told me that only love can heal a broken heart."

"Whoever told you that was very wise." I told Gaara. "Thank you both for trying to help. It's thanks to you and your siblings, Gaara, that everyone came back alive."

I gave them both a kiss on the forehead, causing them both to blush.

* * *

Naruto left with Jiraiya-sama not long after his wounds were healed. Sakura began training under Tsunade-sama. Now all of Kakashi's students were off on their own and it was just us in the house. I was going through "empty nest" syndrome. Of course, within a several months' time, Kakashi and I would have our own little one wondering around. I hadn't been able to tell Sasuke about his niece or nephew. Would he come back and find out?

I was plagued by nightmares that night. I saw all of the Uchihas that I had killed "that night". I saw my genin team and sensei being cut down in front of me. I saw Obito getting crushed under the rocks. I saw Orochimaru taking over Sasuke's body. I saw Itachi being killed by Sasuke. I saw the battles I'd fought in during the 3rd great ninja war. I saw Madara in his strange mask staring down at me, then choking me.

All that death...all that dying...what would it take to make it so that my child never sees any of it?

* * *

It would take several months before I would sleep peacefully again. Of course, peacefully was a relevant term here. By peacefully, I meant that my dreams no longer caused me to wake up screaming in the middle of the night. I still had them, but they were more tame. Obito and Madara were recurring figures in my nightmares. Was it because I had mistaken Madara for Obito?

The once my nightmares settled down, the rest of my pregnancy was fairly smoothe. I carried to term and my delivery was without incident, although excruciatingly painful. After several hours of labor, I finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She had spiky tufts of dark raven hair. I thought she looked a lot like Kakashi, except for my hair color. Kakashi thought her face looked like mine.

"Have you two thought about a name yet?" Tsunade-sama asked. She'd been the one to deliver our daughter.

"I have the perfect name for her," I said as I held my precious daughter in my arms. "Kushina."

 **AN: Sorry again for the delay. I've been working on this one for a while, but was having a difficult time writing it. I've also been having troubles in school. Reading anything for more than 10-15 minutes is extremely difficult for me these days. My concentration is down. I'm getting my eyes checked to see if that's the cause of the migraines. If that doesn't help, then I'm going to have to see a neurologist. yay.**

 **Next chapter will be a few months after baby Kushina is born and Kaede wants to start doing more work.**

 **By the way, what do you guys think of the baby being named after Naruto's mother? I figured since she was practically Kaede's aunt as a child and the wife of Kakashi's sensei, it was a good way to honor her.**

 **Any thoughts?**


	19. Author's note

Dear readers:

Sorry for my inconsistencies, both in the story and with updating. I've had a ton of issues going on in my life between my health and my schooling. I've been trying to come up with a new chapter for a month now, but I've been finding it difficult to write lately. So, instead, I am going to put this story on a hold while I rewrite it and work out the kinks in the plot. I feel like there is a lot of inconsistencies between what I had originally intended for this story, where it is now, and the actual canon plot line, especially with what's been revealed in the new Itachi arch (even if it's technically not canon). If anyone is interested in being my beta for the rewrite, I would very much appreciate that. This rewrite have a much more stream line plot instead of jumping around. I want to do right by you the readers and this story. I am NOT giving up, just taking a step back to do things the right way.

Thank you very much for you understanding, support, and patience. I will post here with the new chapters when they are acceptable.

Sincerely,

To'M'L Kuran


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